II Structure
PHONOLOGY
Phonemes
Vowels-
| Height of the tongue | Position of the tongue | Front | Central | Back |
| Lip position | Unrounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |
| High | ⌶ | Ʊ | ||
| Lower High | i | u | ||
| Mid | e | ə | o | |
| Lower Mid | E | O | ||
| Low | a |
Consonants-
| Manner of articulation | Place of articulation | ||||||
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
| Stops vl.unasp. vl. asp. vd.unasp vd. asp. | p pʰ b bʰ | t tʰ d dʰ | ṭ ṭʰ ḍ ḍʰ | c cʰ j jʰ | k kʰ g gʰ | ||
| Nasals | m | n | ñ | ||||
| Fricatives | s | h | |||||
| Trills | r | ||||||
| Flap | ṛ | ||||||
| Laterals | l | ||||||
| Frictionless Continuants | w | y | |||||
Vowels
There are 10 vowels in Korku. All the vowels are voiced and have been described below with their allophones, if any.
/ə/ Higher-mid central unrounded voiced vowel Initially- /əm/ ‘you (sg)’, /ənaj/ ‘crops’, /əyom/ ‘mother’ Medially- /bədəra/ ‘cloud’, /ḍa ghəma/ ‘rain’ Finally- data is not available /a / Low central unrounded short voiced vowel Initially- /aṭa/ ‘food’, /aḍo/ ‘true’, /ari/ ‘happiness’, /a⌶n/ ‘good’ Medially- /raṭo/ ‘night’, / jaṭo/ ‘religion’, /labaṛ/ ‘lie’ Finally- /ḍ⌶ya/ ‘day’, /ḍʰola/ ‘south’, /bənsoba / ‘ugly’ Open vowels of particular syllables as occurred in the language contained the vowels are largely closed syllables. /e/ Mid front unrounded voiced Initially- /eṭa/ ‘again’ Medially- /n⌶n⌶c/ ‘open’, /neneṭ / ‘cut (animate)’, /b⌶ḍeni/ ‘foot stand’ Finally- /ambe/ ‘mango’, /səge/ ‘bring’, /b⌶ḍe/ ‘get (up)/ stand up’ /E/ Mid front unrounded voiced long vowel Initially- /Ena/ ‘mirror’ Medially- /kEci/ ‘scissors’, /bʰEra/ ‘deaf’, /pEsa/ ‘money’ Finally-data is not available /⌶/ High front unrounded short vowel. This vowel occurs in all the positions. Illustrative examples are: - Initially- /⌶lajo/ ‘treatment’, Medially- /g⌶ṭ⌶j/ ‘sleep’, /s⌶ṭom/ ‘thread’, /kʰ⌶ṭi/ ‘field’, /c⌶ca/ ‘tamarind’ Finally- /na⌶/ ‘barber’, /sƱk⌶nm⌶ni/ ‘perfume’, /n⌶͂ũḍi/ ‘sweet’ /i/ High front unrounded long vowel Initially- /ir/ ‘cut (paddy)’, /iṭo/ ‘brick’ Medially- /sinḍo/ ‘palm’, /tir/ ‘arrow’, /piwṛi/ ‘yellow’ Finally- /ari/ ‘happiness’, /kʰəpri/ ‘cockroach’ o Lower-mid back rounded Initially- /oṭe/ ‘earth’, /oṭʰa/ ‘chin’, /ola/ ‘wet’, /olen/ ‘went’, /oḍken/ ‘took out’, /osor/ ‘crawl’ Medially- /korku/ ‘people’, /pʰolka/ ‘blouse’, /guḍam/ ‘button’ Finally- /bərsaḍo/ ‘rain’, /murkʰo/ ‘fool’, /ra:nḍo/ ‘widow’, /bao/ ‘wife’s brother (younger)’ O Lower-mid back rounded voiced long vowel Initially- /Ol/ ‘write’, /Oso/ ‘dew’, /Oṛna/ ‘scarf’ Medially- /pOṭo/ ‘tip of a plant’, /mOla/ ‘value, price’ Finally- /səccO/ ‘truth’, /cOja/ ‘why’, /ḍO/ ‘keep’ u High back rounded voiced Initially- /ubra/ ‘sweat’, /une/ ‘new’ Medially- /buḍ⌶/ ‘marsh’, /sukṛ⌶/ ‘pig (female)’, /kula/ ‘lion’ Finally- /siḍu/ ‘liquor’, /ruku/ ‘insect’, /baḍu/ ‘pig (male)’ Ʊ High back rounded voiced long vowel Initially- /Ʊ/ ‘brother’s wife’, /Ʊn/ ‘wool’ Medially- /hƱkʰu/ ‘hide’, /aŋgƱp/ ‘yawn’ Finally- /arƱ/ ‘or’, /kakƱ/ ‘fish’
Consonants and their distribution (allophonic variation)
STOPS / PLOSSIVES
p voiceless bilabial unaspirated stop Initially-/pəcna/ ‘blood’, /pun⌶o/ ‘full moon day’, /pəṭṭa/ ‘tomorrow’, /popa/ ‘hole’, /pəpsar/ ‘spread (bed sheet etc.)’ Medially- /ḍʰepa/ ‘thick’, /ipṭʰiñ/ ‘oven’ Finally- /siŋgrup/ ‘evening’, /aŋgup/ ‘yawn’, /səṛup/ ‘run’ pʰ voiceless bilabial aspirated stop Initially- /pʰəsla ḍaḍa/ ‘decide’, /pʰəpʰṛi/ ‘to break’ Medially- /⌶pʰ⌶l/ ‘star’, /apʰəi kona/ ‘triangle’, /copʰar/ ‘how’, /sapʰo/ ‘clean’, /kəpʰlij/ ‘butterfly’ Finally- /sapʰ/ ‘neat’ b voiced bilabial unaspirated stop Initially- /bədəra/ ‘cloud’, /benḍ⌶/ ‘forest’, /bərsaḍo/ ‘rain’, /boko/ ‘younger brother’ Medially- /ubra/ ‘heat due to fire’, /ḍoba/ ‘bullock’, /lelbe/ ‘lip’ Finally- /səsan/ ‘turmeric’, /ləcken/ ‘pregnant’, /hub/ ‘skin hair’ bʰ voiced bilabial aspirated stop Initially- /bʰumka/ ‘village priest’, /bʰondlo/ ‘pakoda’ Medially- /məna bʰaḍo/ ‘big frog’, /eṭa bʰ⌶I/ ‘although’, /bʰubʰu/ ‘bark of a dog’ Finally- NA ‘t’ voiceless unaspirated dento-alveolar stop Initially- /tur/ ‘squirrel’, /tala boṭo/ ‘middle finger’, /teṛia/ ‘armlet’ Medially- /s⌶tr⌶/ ‘umbrella’, /usta/ ‘pillow’, /sati/ ‘chest’ Finally- /gələt/ ‘wrong’, /adət/ ‘habit’ ‘tʰ’ voiceless aspirated dento-alveolar stop Initially- /tʰegṛa/ ‘polish of cloth’ Medially- /kultʰa/ ‘horse gram’, /natʰa/ ‘nosethread for cattle’ Finally- /utʰ/ ‘vegetable’ ‘d’ voiced unaspirated dento-alveolar stop Initially- /dədrom/ ‘procession’, /dəsti/ ‘handkerchief’, /dəmsəsa/ ‘breath’ Medially- /dədbao/ ‘press’, /gədəṛa/ ‘male donkey’, /bədək/ ‘crane’ Finally- /pərsad/ ‘offering’ ‘dʰ’ voiced aspirated dento-alveolar stop Initially- /dʰira/ ‘slow’, /dʰulla/ ‘dust’, /dʰukni/ ‘bedbug’ Medially- /dudʰurikakƱ/ ‘a variety of fish’ Finally- /pərsidʰ/ ‘fame’ ‘ṭ’ voiceless unaspirated retroflex stop Initially- /ṭ⌶/ ‘hand’, /ṭauṭe/ ‘after’, /ṭollen/ ‘where’, /ṭƱle/ ‘carry’ Medially- /boṭo/ ‘finger’, /aṭkom/ ‘egg’, /siṭa/ ‘dog’, /usṭa/ ‘left over food’ Finally- /meṭ/ ‘eye’, /jilŋoṭ/ ‘earthworm’, /cəcpʰaṭ/ ‘chew (food)’ ‘ṭʰ’ voiceless aspirated retroflex stop Initially- /ṭʰenḍej/ ‘moon’, /ṭʰatwã/ ‘taste’, /ṭʰaḍa/ ‘plate’, /ṭʰaṛa/ ‘live’ Medially- /cəṭʰua/ ‘spoon’, /iṭʰu/ ‘learn’, /koṭʰa/ ‘cowshed’ Finally- /cuməṭʰ/ ‘stingy’ ‘ḍ’ voiced unaspirated retroflex stop Initially- /ḍoko/ ‘hiccup’, /ḍiḍuma tiḍin/ ‘milk tooth’, /ḍora/ ‘rope’ Medially- /haḍge/ ‘bone’, /meḍḍa/ ‘tear’, /b⌶ḍe/ ‘get (up)’, /haṛəxi/ ‘know’, Finally- /b⌶b⌶ḍ/ ‘sow seed’, /salaḍ/ ‘salad’ ‘ḍʰ’ voiced aspirated retroflex stop Initially- /ḍʰega/ ‘stone’, /ḍʰ⌶ya/ ‘curd’, /ḍʰ⌶kl⌶ba/ ‘push’, /ḍʰepa/ ‘thick’ Medially- /iṭa ḍʰer/ ‘downward’ Finally- /deḍʰ/ ‘one and a half’, ‘c’ voiceless unaspirated palatal affricate Initially- /cəḍḍI/ ‘pant’, /cəddər/ ‘bedsheet’, /cecepe/ ‘part of hand and foot/claw’, /cabu/ ‘mouth’, /c⌶ca/ ‘tamarind’ Medially- /ḍʰaca/ ‘frame’, /cəcpʰaṭ/ ‘chew (food)’, Finally- /u⌶c/ ‘jump’, /bə⌶ya kec/ ‘leave’, /ḍora uc/ ‘rope jumping’ ‘cʰ’ voiceless aspirated palatal stop Initially- /cʰəcəpa/ ‘print’ Medially- /icʰa/ ‘intention’, /coj/ ‘what’ Finally- NA ‘j’ voiced unaspirated palatal stop Initially- /joḍa/ ‘toe-ring’, /junu/ ‘broom’, /joka/ ‘cheek’ Medially- /kunji/ ‘key’, /iju/ ‘toilet’, /kəpʰ⌶j/ ‘butterfly’ Finally- /giṭij/ ‘sleep’, /biñ/ ‘snake’, /kəplij/ ‘lizard’ ‘jʰ’ voiced aspirated palatal stop Initially- /jʰapṛa/ ‘engine’, /jʰigir migir/ ‘bright’, /jʰujʰurni/ ‘to catch’ Medially- /murjʰao/ ‘faint’ Finally- NA ‘k’ voiceless unaspirated velar stop Initially- /kapər/ ‘head’, /kõbor/ ‘body’, /kətʰla/ ‘armpit’, /kƱmƱ/ ‘dirt’ Medially- /niliku ḍa/ ‘honey’, /səkkər/ ‘sugar’, /səkom/ ‘leaf’ Finally- /bədək/ ‘duck’, /muluk/ ‘foreign’ ‘kʰ’ voiceless aspirated velar stop Initially- /kʰũ ba/ ‘coughs’, /kʰəpri/ ‘cockroach’, /kʰũni/ ‘elbow’ Medially- /ukʰnum/ ‘urine’, /cakʰan/ ‘wood’, /takʰer/ ‘cucumber’, /kakʰap/ ‘bite’, /keṭkʰom/ ‘tortoise’ Finally- NA ‘g’ voiced unaspirated velar stop Initially- /gaḍa/ ‘river’, /gomej/ ‘god’, /gogla/ ‘gather’, /gəm/ ‘patience’ Medially- /ḍʰega/ ‘stone’, /ugur/ ‘cover’, /h⌶gra/ ‘fear’ Finally- /dimag/ ‘intellect’ ‘gʰ’ voiced aspirated velar stop Initially- /gʰuṛgi/ ‘horse’, /gʰotəṛi/ ‘deer’, /gʰiũ/ ‘ghee’ Medially- /səmudro gʰera/ ‘seashore’, /gʰəgʰəṭa/ ‘find’ Finally- NA
NASALS
‘m’ voiced bilabial nasal Initially- /mara/ ‘peacock’, /musa/ ‘moustache’, /meḍḍa/ ‘tear’ Medially- /suk⌶nm⌶n⌶/ ‘perfume’, /gomej/ ‘god’, /raramṭen/ ‘cool’ Finally- /gəgrom/ ‘heat’, /muməḍa/ ‘kill’, /gonəm/ ‘bride price’ ‘n’ voiced alveolar nasal Initially- /nari/ ‘breakfast’, /nekkʰo/ ‘nail’, /naga/ ‘foot’ Medially- /uni/ ‘new’, /minu/ ‘cat’, /puni/ ‘cotton’ Finally- /cakʰan/ ‘wood’, /kon/ ‘new born child’, /un/ ‘wool’ ‘ñ’ voiced palatal nasal Initially- data is not available Medially- /ipṭʰiñj/ ‘oven’, /ajom-ñen/ ‘listened’ Finally- /sañ/ ‘ended’, /pura-ñ/ ‘completed’, /rwa-ñ/ ‘became sick’ FRICATIVES ‘s’ voiceless alveolar fricative Initially- /sim/ ‘hen’, /s⌶yan/ ‘finish’, /sinḍo/ ‘palm’ Medially- /məmsao/ ‘rub’, /səsəmjao/ ‘make one understand’, /s⌶s⌶riñj/ ‘song’ Finally- /brus/ ‘brush’, /kos/ ‘a term referring to two miles’ ‘h’ voiceless glottal fricative Initially- /hanḍu/ ‘bull’, /eṭṭʰi/ ‘elephant’, /haḍge/ ‘bone’, /heje/ ‘come’ Medially- /mah⌶ti/ ‘information’, /hirdaheja/ ‘remember’, /janahaḍe/ ‘skeleton’ Finally- NA TRILL ‘r’ voiced alveolar trill Initially- /roj/ ‘daily’, /raram/ ‘cold’, /raṭa/ ‘red’ Medially- /jəndra/ ‘hybrid’, /bʰaran/ ‘out’, /kirsan/ ‘rich’ Finally- /ilur/ ‘husband’s younger brother’, /kulər/ ‘grand son’ FLAP ‘ṛ’ voiced retroflex flap Initially- NA Medially- /tʰaṛba/ ‘stay’, /toṛo/ ‘carpet’, /gʰuṛa/ ‘garbage’ Finally- /gomejoṛ/ ‘dawn’, /k⌶͂wəṛ/ ‘door’, /gulhəṛ/ ‘hibiscus’ LATERAL ‘l’ voiced alveolar lateral Initially- /lija/ ‘sari’, /ləcken/ ‘pregnant’, /lan/ ‘tongue’ Medially- /kulupo/ ‘lock’, /bulu/ ‘thigh’, /jilu/ ‘flesh’ Finally- /saməl/ ‘coriander’, /kəṭəl/ ‘jackfruit’, /jujul/ ‘burn (of charcoal)’ FRICTIONLESS CONTINUANTS ‘w’ bilabial frictionless continuants and semi-vowel Initially-/w⌶yar/ ‘swim’, /war/ ‘yard’ Medially- /n⌶wri/ ‘bride’, /bʰawḍ⌶/ ‘back’, /p⌶rtʰwi/ ‘world’ Finally-/ulaw/ ‘vomit’, /ṭaw/ ‘behind’ ‘y’ palatal frictionless continuants and semi-vowel Initially- /yaḍo/ ‘remember’, /yei/ ‘seven’, /yojna haru/ ‘plan’ Medially- /s⌶yan/ ‘finish’, /bə⌶ya kec/ ‘leave’ Finally- /aba may/ ‘parents’, /japay/ ‘female’
ALLOPHONES
(i) /h/ has two allophones, they are as follows- [ʔ] It is a glottal stop. It occurs inter-vocalic only and across morpheme boundaries but forming part of the first morpheme. [heʔen] ‘to come (past)’ /heh-en/ [ḍeʔen] ‘to destroy (past)’ /ḍeh-en/ [h] It is a voiceless glottal fricative and occurs else where. heje ‘come’ hindṛi ‘travel’ (ii) /s/ has two allophones [S] This is pronounced in avleo-palatal region and occurs before the vowel /i/ [Sita] ‘dog’ /sita/ [Siñj] ‘tree’ /siñj/ [s] It is an alveolar fricative and occurs elsewhere. /soba/ ‘smart/beautiful’ /sale/ ‘bring’ /kasu/ ‘pain’ (iii) /w/ has two allophones [W] It occurs in initial and intervocalic positions [aWel] ‘good’ /awel/ [w] It occurs medially. [rƱwa] ‘to be sick’ (iv) /y/ has two allophones [Y] It occurs medially only [koYo] ‘air’ /koyo/ [y] It occurs eleswhere [ṭeṛya] ‘armlet’ (v) /n/ has two allophones [n] It occurs in all the three positions. (See phonemic description) [N] It occurs only medially. [siŋgrup] ‘dusk’ /singrup/
CONTRAST AMONG VOWELS
Contrast of Tongue Position
The vowel phonemes described above have been established on the basis of contrast. So contrast among vowels have been given in this section. Three tongue positions namely front, central and back have been involved in the production of vowels. In two ways we can show the vowel contrast, such as: -
(i) Part of the tongue (ii) Height of the tongue Part of the tongue Front vs. Back /⌶/ vs. /Ʊ/ /⌶ṭʰu/ ‘learn’ /Ʊṭʰu/ ‘curry’ /⌶ni/ ‘this (inanim.)’ /Ʊni/ ‘new’ Height of the tongue /⌶/ vs. /i/ /aṛ⌶/ ‘blow’ /ari/ ‘happiness’ /i/ vs. /e/ /iṭa/ ‘behind’ /eṭa/ ‘if/and’ /o/ vs. /O/ /co/ ‘why’ /jO/ ‘fruit’ CONTRAST AMONG CONSONANTS We can show the contrast between consonants on the following basis, such as: -
Contrast of Point of Articulation
Only contrasts of those consonants have been given whose point of articulation are very close with each other.
Contrast among nasals / m vs. n vs. ñ / /m/ vs. /n/ /ama/ ‘your’ /ana/ ‘story’ /jumu/ ‘name /junu/ ‘broom’ /ṭem/ ‘time’ /ṭen/ ‘by’ /n/ vs. /ñ/ /ini/ ‘this’ /iña/ ‘my’ Dental vs. Retroflex /t/ vs. /ṭ/ /Ʊsta/ ‘pillow’ /Ʊsṭa/ ‘left over food’ /gəlti/ ‘mistake’ /bəlṭi/ ‘bucket’ /sutri/ ‘jute’ /kuṭri/ ‘bathroom’ /d/ vs. /ḍ/ /mudda/ ‘proposal’ /muḍa/ ‘radish’ /uda/ ‘grey’ /uḍe/ ‘that’ /r/ vs. /ṛ/ /ari/ ‘happiness’ /aṛi/ ‘blow’ /ṭukṛa/ ‘piece’ /sukṛa/ ‘bread’ /suri/ ‘knief’ /buṛi/ ‘marsh’ Contrast of articulation among other consonants, example: /ṭ/ vs. /b/ /aṭa/ ‘food’ /aba/ ‘father’ /kʰ/ vs. /pʰ/ /akʰir/ ‘last’ /apʰir/ ‘fly’ /gʰ/ vs. /b/ /gʰiṛi/ ‘moment’ /biṛi/ ‘tobacco’ /k/ vs. /ḍ/ /joka/ ‘cheek’ /joḍa/ ‘toe-ring’ /g/ vs. /ḍ/ /guḍom/ ‘button’ /ḍiḍom/ ‘milk’ /dʰ/ vs. /c/ /ḍʰola/ ‘south’ /cola/ ‘when’ /s/ vs. /ṭ/ /sisa/ ‘toddy pot’ /siṭa/ ‘dog’ /j/ vs. /r/ /aji/ ‘husband’s sister’ /ari/ ‘happiness’ /n/ vs. /l/ /gen/ ‘with’ /gel/ ‘ten’ /l/ vs. /ṭ/ /ḍʰola/ ‘south’ /ḍʰoṭa/ ‘husband’
Contrast of Manner
Manners of articulation depend upon the position of the vocal cords, position of the organs in the oral cavity and the position of the soft palate. The contrasts between stops, fricatives, nasals, laterals, trills and semi vowels, voiced and voiceless, also between aspirated and unaspirated are given below.
Stop vs. Nasal vs. Semi vowel /g/ vs. /m/ /gũ/ ‘wheat’ /mũ/ ‘mahua’ /k/ vs. /n/ /kãco/ ‘mirror’ /naco/ ‘dance’ /c/ vs. /m/ /nenec/ ‘open /nenem/ ‘shoot’ /ṭ/ vs. /m/ /ṭ⌶yã/ ‘wife’s brother (elder)’ /m⌶yã/ ‘one’ /ṭ/ vs. /w/ /saṭon/ ‘by’ /sawen/ ‘for’ Stop vs. Fricative /p/ vs. /h/ /por⌶ya/ ‘boy’ /hor⌶ya/ ‘parrot’ /ṭ/ vs. /s/ /siṭa/ ‘dog’ /sisa/ ‘toddy pot’ /g/ vs. /s/ /gyan/ ‘knowledge’ /syan/ ‘to finish’ /b/ vs. /s/ /biñj/ ‘snake’ /siñj/ ‘tree’ /ḍ/ vs. /s/ /aḍi/ ‘flood’ /asi/ ‘to beg’ /ḍoba/ ‘bullock’ /soba/ ‘smart’ Stop vs. Flap vs. Lateral /k/ vs. /ṛ/ /laŋgka/ ‘far’ /laŋgṛa/ ‘cripple’ /ḍ/ vs. /ṛ/ /bʰəṭəḍa/ ‘whirlwind’ /bədəṛa/ ‘cloud’ /ṭʰaḍa/ ‘place’ /ṭʰaṛa/ ‘live’ /ṛ/ vs. /l/ /cauṛi/ ‘panchayat’ /cauli/ ‘raw rice’ Trill vs. Lateral /r/ vs. /l/ /sara/ ‘hyena’ /sala/ ‘age’ Unaspirated vs. Aspirated /ṭ/ vs. /ṭʰ/ /ciṭi/ ‘ant’ /ciṭʰi/ ‘letter’ /k/ vs. /kʰ/ /akar/ ‘shape’ /ukʰar/ ‘shave’ /p/ vs. /pʰ/ /ape/ ‘you (plural)’ /apʰəi/ ‘three’ /b/ vs. /bʰ/ /baŋgon/ ‘neg. element’ /bʰoŋga/ ‘naked’ /bədəṛa/ ‘cloud’ /bʰəṭəḍa/ ‘whirlwind’ /ḍ/ vs. /ḍʰ/ /ḍoba/ ‘bullock’ /ḍʰoṭa/ ‘husband’ /g/ vs. /gʰ/ /gaw/ ‘village’ /gʰaw/ ‘wound’ Voiceless vs. Voiced /p/ vs. /b/ /pulum/ ‘white’ /bulum/ ‘salt’ /popa/ ‘hole’ /boba/ ‘please go’ /c/ vs. /j/ /co/ ‘why’ /jO/ 'fruit’ /ṭ/ vs. /ḍ/ /ṭ⌶ya/ ‘wife’s brother’ /ḍ⌶ya/ ‘day’ /joṭa/ ‘rope to the ox for plough or buffalo cart’ /joḍa/ ‘toe-ring’ /k/ vs. /g/ /jeka/ ‘someone’ /jega/ ‘whose’ /joka/ ‘cheek’ /joga/ ‘beggar’ /sukṛi/ ‘pig’ /pəgṛi/ ‘turban’
Nasalization / ƀ/
All the vowels in Korku can occur nasalized and their constrast with oral vowels. A few examples, such as: -
/a/ vs. /ã/ /ṭ⌶ya/ ‘to tear’ /ṭ⌶yã/ ‘wife’s younger brother’
Consonant Clusters and Geminate
Geminates
Geminates are extra long and more fortis consonants. Only the consonants / k, g, b, c, j, d, ḍ, l, ṭ, m, n, p, s, r / occur geminated in Korku. Geminates precede only short vowels and occur after /a, e, u,ə, o, i / vowels. Long vowels can follow the geminates but cannot proceed in Korku language.
Examples:
1. /-pp-/ /ḍʰeppo/ ‘together’ (through)
2. /-bb-/ /sabbal/ ‘crowbar’
3. /-dd-/ /mudda/ ‘proposal’
4. /-ṭṭ-/ /pəṭṭa/ ‘belt’
/peṭṭ⌶/ ‘box’
/cəṭṭo/ ‘quickly’
5. /-ḍḍ-/ /meḍḍa/ ‘tear’,
/gəḍḍa/ ‘ravine’
6. /-cc-/ /laliccokoro/ ‘greedy person’
7. /-jj-/ /lajjen/ ‘started’
8. /-kk-/ /lakken/ ‘do’
/mukki/bukki/ ‘first’
/cəkkər/ ‘love’
/cikkəṭ/ ‘smooth’
/pəkka/ ‘solid’
9. /-gg-/ /alaggo/ ‘separately’
/ḍʰeggo/ ‘useless’ (through)
10. /-mm-/ /səmman sene/ ‘move’
11. /-nn-/ /ṭʰunni/ ‘node before a branching’
12. /-ss-/ /amberasso/ ‘mango juice’
13. /-ll-/ / kella/ ‘calf’
/kelli/ ‘calf (female)’
/billa/ ‘eagle’
/ellen/, ‘here’
/ṭollen/ ‘where’
14. /-rr-/ /turra/ ‘peacock’s comb’
Consonant Clusters
Clusters of consonants occur in all the positions i.e., initial, medial and final. In Korku the occurrence of consonant clusters is more frequent in the medial position. Also in the medial position, three consonants occur at the most. All those clusters that are possible in the initial and final positions occur in the medial position also.
Initial (position) Clusters
Only three consonants, i.e., / r w y / can occur in the second position. /r/ forms a cluster only with stops whereas / w y / form a cluster with stops, nasals, lateral and fricatives occurring in the initial position.
Stop + /r/ /pr-/ in /prətʰwi/ ‘world’ /br-/ in / brus/ ‘brush’ /ṭr-/ in / ṭre/ ‘tray’ Stop + /y/ /dy-/ in /dyaen/ ‘late’ /ṭy-/ in /ṭya/ ‘wife’s brother (elder)’ /gy-/ in /gyan ju/ ‘encourage’ /kʰy-/ in /kʰyle/ ‘play’ /ḍʰy-/ in /ḍʰya/ ‘curd’ /ḍy-/ in /ḍya/ ‘day’ Nasal + /y/ /my-/ in /mya/ ‘one’ Fricative + /y/ /sy-/ in /syan/ ‘finish’ Stop + /w/ /jw-/ in /jwan/ ‘youth’ Lateral + /w/ /lw-/ in /lwajo/ ‘big fruit’ In one instance /r/ is in the initial position forming cluster with /w/- /rw-/ in /rwakoro/ ‘patient’ Medial Clusters /-pk-/ in /ṭipka/ ‘point’ /-pt-/ in /həpten ki gəʰṭaua/ ‘weekly wage’ /-pṭ-/ in /hepṭim/ ‘stove’ /-pr-/ in /pepre/ ‘pipal’ /-pṛ-/ in /kʰopṛe/ ‘coconut’ /-pn-/ in /səpna ḍoḍo/ ‘dream’ /-pʰn-/ in /capʰni gomej/ ‘Saturn’ /-br-/ in /ubra/ ‘sweat’ /-bṛ-/ in /jəbṛia tiḍin/ ‘jaw’ /-bl-/ in /dubla/ ‘thin’ /-mb-/ in /ambe/ ‘mango’ /-md-/ in /dəmdar koro/ ‘brave’ /-mj-/ in /kemjor/ ‘weak’ /-mṭ-/ in /raramṭen/ ‘cool’ /-mḍ-/ in /mumḍa/ ‘beat’ /-mk-/ in /ṭamkulonda/ ‘rainbow’ /-mn-/ in /cimni sunum/ ‘kerosene’ /-ms-/ in /cumsi/ ‘stinginess’ /-ml-/ in /kukumlake/ ‘human excrement’ /-mr-/ in /komra/ ‘ask’ /-tk-/ in /cəmətkar/ ‘wonder’ /-tm-/ in /atma/ ‘soul’ /-tr-/ in /sitri/ ‘umbrella’ /-tṛ/ in /kut̃⌶/ ‘bathroom’ /-tʰl-/ in /kətʰla/ ‘armpit’ /-tʰw-/ in /prətʰwi/ ‘world’ /-dl-/ in /yəkin didlao/ ‘persuade’ /-dr-/ in /dədrom/ ‘procession’ /-dʰḍ-/ in /andʰḍa/ ‘blind’ /-dʰṛ-/ in /pədʰṛ⌶/ ‘roof’ /-nm-/ in /acha sukinmini/ ‘perfume’ /-ns-/ in /bənsoba/ ‘ugly’ /-ṭj-/ in /oṭjen/ ‘miss’ /-ṭk-/ in /aṭkom/ ‘egg’ /-ṭn-/ in /beṭna/ ‘peas’ /-ṭr-/ in /kəṭre/ ‘skin’ /-ḍk-/ in /dʰaḍki miṭʰec/ ‘laborer’ /-ḍg-/ in /haḍge/ ‘bone’ /-ḍs-/ in /aḍsi/ ‘lazy’ /-cpʰ-/ in /cəcpʰaṭ/ ‘chew (food)’ /-cj-/ in /lʰcjeb/ ‘pregnant’ /-cr-/ in /kocre/ ‘egg’s cover’ /-jk-/ in /rojki gʰəṭaua/ ‘daily wage’ /-jl-/ in /kəjluj/ /-jm-/ in /jəjmao/ ‘shift’ /-kj-/ in /kikji/ ‘sell’ /-kl-/ in /ḍʰikliba/ ‘push’ /-kn-/ in /cikna kasa/ ‘clay’ /-kṛ-/ in /sukṛ⌶/ ‘pig’ /-kr-/ in /suini ḍukri/ ‘midwife’ /-ks-/ in /meksi:/ ‘gown’ /-kt-/ in /takta/ ‘black board’ /-kṭ-/ in /ṭekṭər/ ‘tractor’ /-kʰr-/ in /jukʰric/ ‘sweep’ /-kʰw-/ in /ləkʰwa/ ‘paralysis’ /-gḍ-/ in /ḍogḍe/ ‘shell of tortoise’ /-gl-/ in / təgli/ ‘ornament’ /-gn-/ in /gigna/ ‘count’ /-gṛ-/ in /pəgṛ⌶/ ‘turban’ /-gr-/ in /higra/ ‘fear’ /-ŋc-/ in /siŋcucri/ ‘steal’ /-sp-/ in /həspatal/ ‘hospital’ /-sk-/ in /biskuṭ/ ‘biscuit’ /-sn-/ in /ḍisnari/ ‘dictionary’ /-sr-/ in /kosret/ ‘elder brother’s son(self/other)’ /-st-/ in /bistar/ ‘Jupiter’ /-hl-/ in /pehla kon/ ‘back of the head’ /-hr-/ in /ṭehri/ ‘entrance’ /-hs-/ in /məhsus ḍaḍa/ ‘feel’ /-rb-/ in /jirbeŋan/ ‘tomato’ /-rbʰ-/ in /tərbʰuj/ ‘watermelon’ /-rc-/ in /mirca/ ‘chilly’ /-rj-/ in /kərjo ju miṭʰec/ ‘money-lender’ /-rjʰ-/ in /murjʰao/ ‘faint’ /-rṭ-/ in /akarṭen/ ‘shapely’ /-rk-/ in /korku/ ‘people’ /-rkʰ-/ in /murkʰo/ ‘ignorant’ /-rg-/ in /corgi/ ‘choli’ /-rs-/ in /kirsa/ ‘rich’ /-ṛb-/ in /tʰaṛba/ ‘stay’ /-ṛk-/ in /kʰiṛki/ ‘window’ /-ṛg-/ in /gʰuṛgi/ ‘horse’ /-ṛy-/ in /teṛya/ ‘armlet’ /-lŋ-/ in /jilŋoṭ/ ‘earthworm’ /-lb-/ in /lelbe/ ‘lip’ /-ld-/ in /koldin/ ‘yesterday’ /-lt-/ in /gəlti/ ‘fault’ /-lṭ-/ in /ulṭa/ ‘opposite’ /-lk-/ in /calkom/ ‘arm’ /-lg-/ in /colga/ ‘pajama’ /-lh-/ in /gulhəṛ/ ‘hibiscus’ /-lm-/ in /telmia: sunum/ ‘mustard oil’ /-ln-/ in /tulna ḍaḍa/ ‘compare’ /-ly-/ in /kolya/ ‘wolf’ /-wl-/ in /cawli/ ‘rice’ /-wr-/ in /niwri/ ‘bride’ /-wṛ-/ in /kʰawṛe/ ‘shoe’ Final Cluster A few consonants that can form cluster occur in the final position. /-mb/ in /kuṭumb/ ‘family’ /-ñj/ in /biñj/ ‘snake’ /-yc/ in /bʰayc/ ‘father’s sister’s child’ Homorganic Clusters /-nḍ-/ in /ṭʰenḍej/ ‘moon’ /-nj-/ in /kunji/ ‘key’ /-nṭ-/ in /konṭe boṭo/ ‘index finger’ /-nt-/ in /intejam ḍaḍa/ ‘arrange’ /-np-/ in /jƱwanpor⌶ya/ ‘eligible male’ /-nch-/ in /pencha/ ‘loin-cloth (short)’ /-nḍw-/ in /ranḍwa/ ‘widower’ /-ngʰ-/ in /Ʊnijingʰi/ ‘new life’
Clusters of three or more consonants:
In this language clusters of three consonants can occur only in the medial position. There are some limited following types, such as First type- C2C3 is any permissible two consonant clusters and C1 is homorganic to C2. /-ndl-/ in /bʰondlo/ ‘pakoda’ /-ndr-/ in /bəndri/ ‘monkey’ /-njk-/ in /kunjkər/ ‘father-in-law’ /-ndʰṛ-/ in /andʰṛa/ ‘blind man’ /-ndṛ-/ in /hindṛi/ ‘travel’ /-nḍw-/ in /manḍwa/ ‘stage’ Other types- /-wnḍ-/ in /ḍiwnḍi/ ‘message, drum’ /-wnc-/ in /pawncar/ ‘to celebrate/feast honoring a guest’ /-ṛky-/ in /taṛkya/ ‘a variety of snake’ /-pkʰy-/ in /sərupkʰyal/ ‘athletics’ /-lmy-/ in /gelmya/ ‘eleven’ /-ŋgl -/ in /siŋgli/ ‘ground nut’ /-ŋgr-/ in /goŋgren/ ‘throat’ /-ŋgw-/ in /kaŋgwa/ ‘comb’
Vowel Sequences:
There are mostly two-vowel sequences found in Korku. Vowel sequences are possible in all the three positions, i.e., initial, medial and final. Two similar vowels with one difference (long vs. short) do not form vowel sequence. Except /ə/, all vowels can occur in any position of both the first and second member with any vowel.
Initially /ai / in /ai/ ‘mother’s younger sister’ /au/ in /auṭo/ ‘pair of bullocks’ Medially /-ie-/ in /gaṭien/ ‘knot in a plank’ /-ae-/ in /ulṭaensiñj/ ‘fallen tree’ /-oe-/ in /goen/ ‘dead’ /-ai-/ in /maiku/ ‘chicken pox’ /-ua-/ in /muar/ ‘face’ /-ei-/ in /neito/ ‘otherwise’ /-eu-/ in /neula/ ‘mongoose’ /-iũ-/ in /niũḍ⌶/ ‘sweet’ /-uã-/ in /kuãra/ ‘bachelor’ /-ua-/ in /kuali/ ‘rabbit’ Finally /-ie/ in /ḍuṛie/ ‘a guard (in general)’ /-əi/ in /turə/ ‘six’ /apʰəi/ ‘three’ /akʰəi/ ‘axe’ /kõjəi/ ‘daughter’ /-ei/ in /mənei/ ‘five’, /yei/ ‘seven’ /-ai/ in /arai/ ‘nine’ /-ui/ in /menḍa bui/ ‘eye lid’ /-ao/ in /mimlao/ ‘add/dissolve’ /-ia/ in /teḍʰia/bəkṛia/ ‘armlet’ /-ia:/ in /pilia/ ‘jaundice’ /-au/ in /ṭikau/ ‘stout’
Suprasegmental Features
The suprasegmental phonemes are those phonemes in the language, which do not occur by themselves rather these are superimposed upon segmental phonemes. Following are the suprasegmental features available in Korku language.
(i) Nasalization: / ͂ /- In Korku, all vowels are seen in nasalized forms, but /ə͂/ is not so productive. /-õ-/ in /õso/ ‘dew’, /kõbor/ ‘body’ /-ĩ-/ in /seĩ/ ‘shade’, /kiḍĩj/ ‘scorpio’, /lĩḍʰer/ ‘edge’, /bəkĩ/ ‘unless’ /-ə͂-/ in /ulṭa pə͂kʰor/ ‘bat’ /-ã-/ in /kãco/ ‘mirror’, /hanã/ ‘yes’, /kãde/ ‘onion’, /kuãra/ ‘bachelor’ /-ũ-/ in /mũ/ ‘nose’, /gũ/ ‘wheat’, /hũju/ ‘game’, /kʰũ/ ‘cough’, /niũḍ⌶/ ‘sweet’ /-ẽ-/ in /siẽlen peṛe/ ‘climb’
(ii) Junctures
There are four kinds of junctures in Korku namely Syllabic Juncture marked by /./, word juncture by /-/,phrase juncture by / / and sentence juncture by /#/. In Korku language we can find the internal juncture within a word and external juncture of longer duration between words, phrase as well as sentences. With the types of junctures the structural levels can be distinguished.
Syllable juncture
jom-kʰe ‘ate (2p, 3p)’ jam-jam ‘continuously weeping’ ek-la ‘alone’ ṭu-ṭul ‘to lift’ kor-ku ‘people’ Word juncture siṭa-k⌶ñj ‘two dogs’ kenḍe-por⌶ya ‘black boy’ nunu-ḍa ‘drinking water’ ḍoŋor-kora ‘forest path’ Phrase juncture ⌶ni ⌶ña ura ‘This is my house’ ⌶ñ s⌶s⌶riñjlakken ‘I am singing’ ⌶ñ bən pəḍʰatiũlakken ‘I am not reading’
Syllable
A syllable in Korku essentially consists of a vowel with or without preceding or following consonant or consonants. The vowel constitutes the peak and preceding consonant the onset and the following consonant the coda of the syllable. The smallest syllable may consist of a single vowel, which is the peak e.g., /u/ ‘sister-in-law’ and the longest may consist of CCVCC.
In Korku both the open syllables (ḍa ‘water’) and closed syllables (ipʰil ‘star’) are found.
Syllabic Structure of a word:
In Korku the shortest word is of one syllable and the longest is of four syllables. Most common words are of two syllables. The vowel sequences will form peak of two syllables and the clusters of consonants in the medial position usually get bifurcated as the first member becomes the coda of the preceding syllable and the second member i.e. the following consonant forms the onset of the following syllable.
Monosyllabic words conclude one syllable and the syllabic boundary coincides with the morpheme boundary, as in, jam ‘weeping’, but in the structures of CVCV and CVCVC the syllabic boundary will be after first CV, as in, cica ‘tamarind’. In case of VCCCV structures first two CC become part of the first syllable while the other C becomes part of the second syllable, as in, andʰṛa ‘blind man’.
Some syllable types are available in Korku language as follow-
Monosyllabic words
V /u/ ‘sister-in-law’
VC /əm/ ‘you’
VC /Ol/ ‘to write’
CV /ḍa/ ‘water’
CV /ḍ⌶/ ‘that’
CVC /kon/ ‘new born child’
Disyllabic words:
VCV /u-ne/ ‘new’
VCV /u-ra/ ‘house’
VCV /i-ṭʰu/ ‘to learn’
CVCV /sa-na/ ‘old man’
CVCVC /ḍi-ḍom/ ‘milk’
CVCCV /gʰe-lya/ ‘during’
CVCVC /gi-ṭij/ ‘to sleep’
CVCCV /hi-gra/ ‘fear’
Trisyllabic words:
CVCVCV /bə-də-ra/ ‘cloud’
CVCVCVC /ḍi-te-mon/ ‘meanwhile’
CVCVCVC /hə-ri-ken/ ‘delight’
Quadrisyllabic words:
CVCVCVCV /gu-ṭʰu-mu-ṭʰu/ ‘scarf’
CVCCVCVCCV / ṭam-ku-lo-nda/ ‘rainbow’
Syllable Types:
1. V- /u/ ‘sister-in-law’
2. VC- /əm/ ‘you (sg)’, /uc/ ‘jump’
3. CV- /je/ ‘who’, /kʰũ/ ‘cough’, /ṭi/ ‘hand’
4. CCV- /ṭya/ ‘wife’s brother (elder)’
5. CVC- /meṭ/ ‘eye’, /ḍ⌶j/ ‘he/she’, /ban/ ‘negative marker’
MORPHOPHONEMICS
(i) Assimilation- (a) Final voiceless consonants change to voiced consonant when a voiced sound is added to it. ḍic ‘he/she’ + a ‘gen.suffix’ > ḍija ‘his/her’ meṭ ‘eye’ + ḍa ‘water’ > meḍḍa ‘tears’ (b) Even though the second sound is a voiceless one, still the preceding voiceless sound changes to its voiced variety. meṭ ‘eye’ + kasu ‘pain’ > meḍkasu ‘eyesore’ (ii) Deletion- (a) Final vowel/consonant of a morpheme gets dropped when a morpheme beginning with a consonant is added to it. koro ‘person’(sg.) + -ku ‘pl.suffix’ > korku ‘people’ (pl.) ḍic ‘he/she’ + -ku ‘pl.suffix’ > ḍiku ‘they’ (pl.) ḍic ‘he/she’ + -kiñj ‘dual suffix’ > ḍikiñj ‘they’ (dual) (b) Dropping of a vowel of second or third syllable of a stem when a suffix is added to it. ḍoŋor ‘forest’ + -en ‘dat./loc. Suffix’ > ḍoŋren ‘in forest’ (iii) Long vowels contract to become short when some element is added to a word in which the vowel is long. co: ‘why’ + -pʰa:r ‘a bound element’ > copʰa(:)r ‘how/what’ (iv) Length gets shifted to the next syllable. sa:na ‘old (man)’ + -ba > sana:ba ‘old man’ (v) Length gets added between the morpheme boundaries. ḍa ‘water’ + ṭen > ḍa:-ṭen ‘for water’ (vi) The palatal nasal [ñ] occurs finally with [-j], but when it occurs intervocally, the palatal affricate gets dropped and only the palatal nasal remains. ṭeñj ‘today’ + -a > ṭeña-raṭo ‘to night’ (vii) Dissimilation- Only one instance of this type has been observed tha:ḍ ‘to live’ + ḍa:n ‘past imperfect marker’ > tha:ḍda:n (ḍ+ḍ > ḍd) Idiophones: /bu bʰu/ ‘bark of a dog’ /bʰen bʰen/ ‘hovering sound of bees’ /cubu cubu/ ‘manner of running’ /kocʰol-kocʰol/ ‘sound of water inside a coconut’ /kʰoṛo-kʰoṛo/ ‘sound of copra inside shell’ /hukki-hukki/ ‘ sound of fox’s cry’ Interjections e mae! ‘oh’ ba ba! ‘Surprise’ he! ‘oh’ Also interjections can be seen in affirmative form such as cuc/coc ‘what’
MORPHOLOGY (WORD STRUCTURE)
Words are of various types like inflected or uninflected, derivational, compound based on their formation. It is the basic unit of a sentence and phrase. The structure of word in Korku will be discussed in the following sections under different word categories such as Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, and Interjection etc.
NOUN MORPHOLOGY
Noun forms in Korku, show the distinction of number and case. Except some of the kinship terms gender is not marked for nouns. Nouns in this language are either root stems like /ura/ ‘house’ or derived stems, derived from noun root like /ura-min-ku/ ‘members of a house’ by affixation (one form various morphological processes). Nouns can be divided as animate nouns and inanimate nouns. Animate nouns can get inflected whereas inanimate nouns can take only quantifiers for denoting number, such as /siṭa-ku/ ‘dogs’, /kʰub ḍa/ ‘lots of water’.
GENDER
Gender in Korku is not grammatical rather it is lexical. Some lexical items such as few kinship terms show gender distinction /i/ is used as feminine and /a/ is used as masculine markers like Indo-Aryan languages under the influence of Hindi which is the contact language. A few illustrative are:-
Masculine Feminine
por⌶ya ‘boy’ ṭarəi ‘girl’
ḍʰoṭa ‘husband’ ḍukri ‘wife’
nawra ‘bridegroom’ neƱri ‘bride’
t⌶̥yã ‘wife’s younger brother’ aji ‘husband’s younger sister’
In some cases /jəi/ is the marker of feminine gender.
kon ‘son’ konjəi ‘daughter’
boko ‘younger brother’ bokojəi ‘younger sister’
NUMBER
Animate nouns show three-way distinction of number i.e., singular, dual and plural. Singular nouns are used unmarked, dual and plural are marked by {-kiñ} and {-ku} respectively. Whereas inanimate countable nouns express dual and plurality by adding quantifiers takes two, three, or more. And non-countable nouns such as mass noun take some adjectives to denote more mass. All the nouns can take numerals and countable nouns to express number through numbers. Examples:-
Animate Non-Human
Singular Dual Plural /auṭo/ ‘pair of oxen’ [no dual and no plural] /kakƱ/ ‘fish’ /kakƱkiñ/ /kakƱku/ /kawṛa/ ‘crow’ /kawṛakiñ/ /kawṛaku/ /kƱla/ ‘tiger’ /kƱlakiñ/ /kƱlaku/ /gəi/ ‘cow’ /gəikiñ/ /gəiku/ /puci/ ‘rat’ /pucikiñ/ /puciku/ /minu/ ‘cat’ /minu-kiñ/ ‘two cats’ /minu-ku/ ‘cats’ /siṭa/ ‘dog’ /siṭa-kiñ/ ‘two-dogs’ /siṭa-ku/ ‘dogs’ Animate + Human /kaka/ ‘uncle’ /kakakiñ/ /kakaku/ /kaki/ ‘aunty’ /kakikiñ/ /kakiku/ /kalu/ ‘male name’ /kalukiñ/ /kaluku/ /kalya/ ‘name of the person’ /kalyakiñ/ /kalyaku/ /kenḍe/ ‘male name’ /kenḍekiñ/ /kenḍeku/ /konjəi/ ‘daughter/girl’ /konjəikiñ/ /konjəiku/ /kʰaṭi/ ‘black smith’ /kʰaṭikiñ/ /kʰaṭiku/ /koro/ ‘man’ /kor-kiñ/ ‘two men’ /kor-ku/ ‘people’ /por⌶ya/ ‘boy’ /por⌶ya-kiñ/ ‘two boys’ /por⌶ya-ku/ ‘boys’ /ṭarai/ ‘girl’ /ṭarai-kiñ/ ‘two girls’ /ṭarai-ku/ ‘girls’ INANIMATE NOUNS Countable Singular Dual Plural ura ‘house’ bari ura ‘two houses’ apʰəi ura ‘three houses’ ana ‘story’ bari ana ‘two stories’ apʰəi ana ‘three stories’ rupia ‘money’ monei rupia ‘five rupees’ tir ‘arrow’ bari tir ‘two arrows’ gel tir ‘ten arrows’ genḍo ‘ball’ bari genḍo ‘two balls’ upʰun genḍo ‘four balls’ ciṭṭʰi ‘letter’ bari ciṭṭʰi ‘two letters’ gel ciṭṭʰi ‘ten letters’ gʰənṭa ‘hour’ bari gʰənṭa ‘two hours’ monei gʰənṭa ‘five hours’ /k⌶tabo/ ‘book’ /kətərni/ ‘scissors’ /ura/ ‘house’ /ə⌶na/ ‘mirror’ /iskul/ ‘school’ /akʰai/ ‘axe’ Non-countable (Mass) Nouns ḍa ‘water’ kʰub ḍa ‘lots of water’ tʰoḍa ḍa ‘some water’ gʰonej ḍa ‘lots of water’ por⌶ya ‘boy’ gʰonej por⌶ya-ku bədəṛa ‘cloud’ gʰonej bədəṛa ‘clouds’ baba ‘paddy’ gʰonej baba ‘lots of paddy’ /sona/ ‘gold’ gʰonej sona ‘a lots of gold’ /jaṭo/ ‘tribe’ sebei jaṭo ‘whole tribe’ /⌶pʰil/ ‘star’ gʰonej ⌶pʰil ‘stars’ /hƱ͂ju/ ‘game’ /oṭe/ ‘land’ /əjar/ ‘equipment’
Here we see that dual and plural markers are used as suffixes in case of animate nouns, whereas in case of inanimate nouns dual and plural markers are used as prefixes.
CASE INFLECTIONS
Case relations are expressed by suffixes as well as by postpositions. Nouns precede the case markers or postpositions. In Korku O (zero) is used for nominative case, O (zero)/-ken for accusative, -ṭen for instrumental and ablative case, (V)n locative case, -ke for dative and O (zero), a for genitive and locative and -gon, -saṭon, -s⌶͂gon for sociative case.
Singular Dual Plural Nominative koro kor-kiñ korku Accusative koro-ken korkiñ ken korku ken Instrumental koro ṭen korkiñ ṭen korku ṭen Dative koro ke korkiñ ke korku ke koro gʰellya Ablative koro ṭen korkiñ ṭen korku ṭen Genitive koro-ø korkiñ-a korku-ø Locative koro-n korkiñ-en korkun Vocative e koro e korkiñ e korku Nominative case:- For nominative case the case marker is O (zero), in other words no overt marker is needed for the nominative case. poriya kakƱ jojomba boy fish eat-pt-3p(sg) ‘Boy eats fish’ ḍi-kiñ olen ḍan they(dl) go-past-perfect-3p(dual) ‘They (dual) had come’ ⌶ñ gapʰan siŋruben seneba I tomorrow evening go-fut-1p(sg) ‘I will go tomorrow evening’ Accusative case:- ‘-ken’ is accusative case marker. jəpʰay ken ‘to wife’ ⌶ñ ⌶ñ -a por⌶ya ken pyar ba I my son-acc love-pt-1p(sg) ‘I love my son’ jan ⌶ñ ken mya kitab ile ḍan be John I-acc. one book give-past-3p(sg) ‘John gave me a book’ If both direct and indirect objects are animate then both can take case marker. ram s⌶yam-ken gəi-ken ikʰenej Rama Shyam-acc cow-acc give-p.perfect-3p (sg) ‘Ram has given cow to Shyam’ am-ken ⌶ñ mya-kamay manḍi-ba you-acc I one-work tell-fut-1p(sg) ‘I will tell you a work’
Dative Case- In Korku dative and locative case marker is same, which is discussed below in locative section.
Genitive or Possessive case:- Genitive/possessive case is marked by ‘O, -a’. It occurs with both nouns and pronouns. After consonant genitive case relation marks as /-a/, whereas, after vowel as /-ø/.
/⌶ñ-a ṭi/ ‘my hand’
/ḍij-a boṭo/ ‘his finger’
/ḍi din-a raṭo/ ‘that day’s night’
Also in some other cases genitive marker is used as null ‘O’, such as:
/ḍoŋor kora/ ‘forest path’
/gomej sapna/ ‘god’s dream’
/siṭa hup/ ‘dog’s hair’
⌶ña anṭeba ura ‘my parent’s house’
But in one instance, /-ga/ is used with ura ‘house’ as the genitive marker, which is exception from the above data.
ura-ga mial ‘house’s roof’
Also plural pronouns don’t take genitive case marker.
/əma ura/ ‘your (sg) house’
/əp⌶ña ura/ ‘your (dual) house’
/əpe ura/ ‘your(pl) house’
ale-siṭa ‘our dog’
ḍiku-ura ‘their(pl) house’
Sociative case:- ‘saṭon , gon, s⌶͂gon’ are the sociative case markers, which follow the noun or pronoun.
⌶ñ-a kon ⌶ñ-a saṭon ṭʰaḍba be
my son my with stay-pt-3p(sg) aux.
‘my son lives with me’
sitaram cauligon dəḍi jojomba be
Sitaram rice-soc. dal eat-pt-3p(sg)
‘Sitaram eats dal with rice’
Locative case:- (V)n is the locative case marker.
raja bəgican
‘In the king’s garden’
⌶ñj ⌶ñ-a uran ḍan
I my house-loc. aux.
‘I was in my house’
ḍij-a konku gawen be
his sons village-loc aux.
‘His sons are in the village’
Instrumental and Ablative case:- [-ṭen] is marked for both instrumental and ablative case; only context determines whether it is ablative or instrumental case relation. Noun always precede and can directly take [-ṭen] marker.
⌶ñ-a kolom-ṭen ol-e
my pen-inst. write
‘Write with my pen’
akʰe-ṭen cakʰan-ken ma:ge
axe-with wood-dat. cut
‘Cut the wood with an axe’
liñ-a-ṭen ‘from above’
haṭi-ṭen ‘from market’
Sometimes extra /-a/ is added, such as:
pala siñj-a-ṭen boco-ba
leaves tree-abl. fall-pt
‘The leaves fall from the tree’
narel-a-sunum narel-a-ṭen oṭ-ba be
coconut-oil coconut-abl. take-pt aux.
‘Coconut oil is taken from coconut’
Vocative case
In Korku vocative case is used in the sense of addressing someone. Usually gender is distinguished by using /ja/ for masculine and /ḍo/ for feminine. These two forms always occur after noun, pronoun and verb. Vocative case remains as usual with all numbers, i.e., singular, dual and plural.
e ṭaraiku ellen heje ḍo O girls here come ‘O girls come here’ e por⌶yaku ellen heje ja O boys here come ‘O boys come here’ e may ḍo ‘O mother’ e kon ‘O boy’ e jʰoryanku ḍo ‘O bird (with blue feathers)’ e kəpulic ḍo ‘O butterfly’ e moraŋi ḍo ‘O peacock’ e radʰo konjei ‘O radha daughter’ e ⌶ña ṭai pərkom liyen subaeɡ ‘O my brother sit on bed’ e por⌶ya ja pan supari jome ‘O son eat pan supari’ e por⌶ya aṭa jome ‘O son eat rice’
POST POSITIONS
In Korku language postpositions are used as free morphemes. Sometimes case suffixes are used as postpositions, like sociative case gon/gella, instrumental and ablative case ṭen function as postpositions. Usually /liyen/ ‘above’, /laṭen/ ‘against’, /sədaka/ ‘always’, /eṭa/ ‘and’, /ellen/ ‘here’, /tala/ ‘in’, /mera/ ‘near’,/ṭen/ ‘through’, /gʰalya/ ‘for the sake’, /eḍ⌶/ ‘whether’, /suṭu/ ‘before’ etc., are used as postpositions.
Some postpositions are also used as nouns.
(i) /-mera/ ‘near’ (locational-proximity)
/ḍiku-mera/ ‘near them’
/ḍiku-meran/ ‘near them’ (locative)
/uraga meran/ ‘near the house’
/meran/ occurs after the noun and this whole phrase here behaves as adjectival phrase.
/huṛi meran je olen/ ‘Who went near Holi’
1 2 3 4 3 4 2 1
(ii) /lien/liñ-/ ‘on/over’ (benefactive)
⌶ñ-a liñ-en pirom ḍoy-ba
my over mercy show-np
‘Show mercy on me’
Also /liñ-/ can be used as non-benefactively
kitab tebala-liñen
book table-on/over
‘The book is on/over the table’
(iii) /suṭu/ ‘before’ (temporal)
⌶ñj heje suṭu ‘before I come’
(iv) baḍõ ‘after’ (temporal)
/ḍija hejega baḍõ/ ‘after his arrival’
/tʰoḍasa dina baḍõ/ ‘after a few days’
(v) iṭa(n) ‘below/under’
ḍ⌶j pahaṛa iṭan hejken ḍan be
he hill down come-past-3p (sg)
‘He came down the hill’
/⌶ni iṭa be/ ‘this is below’
/⌶ṭan sene/ ‘go down’
(vi) /ṭalan/ ‘within/out of/through’
kʰ⌶ṭi ṭalan coj
field in what
‘What is in the field’
ḍ⌶j benḍi ṭalan olen ḍan be
he forest through go-past-3p(sg)
‘He went through the forest’
(vii) /ṭaen/ ‘yet/till’
ḍi koro ae ṭaen aṭʰika heje
that man now yet neg come-3p(sg)
‘That man has not come yet’
(viii) /ellen/ ‘here’
⌶ñ ellen ṭen ciṛiaken gockhec babe
I here from bird-acc shoot-pt-modal-1p
‘I can shoot the bird from here’
(ix) /saṭon/ ‘along with’
⌶ñ ⌶nku saṭon ḍan ‘I was with them’
1 2 3 4 1 4 3 2
ḍ⌶j ⌶ñ a saṭon he-hen
he I with come-past-3p (sg)
‘He came along with me’
(xi) /səmman/ ‘in front of’
This post-position occurs after the genitive form of the nominal form to denote location ‘in front of’ to which it is added. For example: -
iskula səmman ⌶ni koro copʰar ləkken
school-of in front the man what do-prog.
‘What is the man doing in front of the school’
⌶ña ura iskula səmman be
my house school in front of aux
‘My house is in front of the school’
(xii) /ṭawən/ ‘behind’
/uraga ṭawən/ ‘behind the house’
(xiii) /gʰeran/ ‘on the bank’
⌶ni por⌶ya gaḍa gʰeran copʰar ləkken
this boy river bank what do-prog.
‘What is the boy doing on the bank of the river’
(xiv) /gelen/ ‘with’
⌶ñ ⌶nij gelen haṭi seneba
I he with market go-fut-1p(sg)
‘I will go to market with him’
PRONOUN
Like nouns pronouns are inflected for number and case. Pronouns have two case forms direct and oblique in three numbers.
PERSONAL PRONOUN
All the three personal pronouns show both the direct and oblique forms. The case suffix is added to direct one, but genitive case marker remains silent when the plural pronoun makes a compound word, such as:-
/ale-si̕a/ ‘our dog’
/əpe-aba/ ‘your(pl) father’
/ḍiku-ura/ ‘their(pl) house’
First person pronoun
‘I’
Singular Dual Plural
Direct ⌶ñ al⌶ñj ale
Accusative ⌶ñ-ken al⌶ñj-ken ale-ken
Genitive ⌶ñ-a al⌶ñ-a ale
Here one thing is noticeable, /-k⌶ñj/ as dual marker and /-ku/ as plural marker are absent in first person pronoun forms. The pronoun structure is:
Root + Number + Case
⌶ñ koro
I man
‘I am a man’
⌶ñ giṭijḍan
I sleep-past-1p(sg)
‘I slept’
⌶ñ-a kon
I-gen son
‘My son’
⌶ñ-a jumu ramə
I-gen name Rama
‘My name is Rama’
al⌶ñj paṭṭa hejeba
we(dl) tomorrow come-fut-1p(dl)
‘We(dl) will come tomorrow’
al⌶ñ-a por⌶yaku ellen ṭakaku
our sons here aux.
‘Our(dl) sons are here’
ale aṭa jope
we(pl) roti eat-pt-perfect-1p(pl)
‘We(pl) have eaten roti’
ale m⌶ya kakƱ uṭʰaben
we(pl) one fish catch-past-1p(pl)
‘We (pl) caught a fish’
Second person pronoun
‘You’
Singular Dual Plural
Direct əm əp⌶ñj əpe/apo(hon.)
Accusative əm-ke əp⌶ñj-ke əpe-ke
Genitive əma əp⌶ñ-a əpe
əm haṭi sene lakken
you (sg) market go-prog
‘You (sg) are going to the market’
əp⌶ñj haṭi sene lakken
you(dual) market go-prog
‘You (dual) are going to the market’
əpe haṭi sene lakken
you (pl) market go-prog
‘You (pl) are going to the market’
əm ⌶ñ-ke doge
you(sg) I-acc. see-pt-2p(sg)
‘You (sg) see me’
əpe ellen hejken
you(pl) here come-past-2p(pl)
‘You(pl) came here’
əma pətel ainka
your(sg) head good
‘Your(sg) head is good’
əm-ke ⌶ñ seŋo jeba
you-acc I help-fut-2p(sg)
‘I will help you’
⌶ni əp⌶ñ-a ura be
this your(dl) house aux.
‘This is your (dl) house’
Third person pronoun
‘He/She/It’
Singular Dual Plural
Direct ḍ⌶j ḍi-k⌶ñj ḍi-ku
Accusative ḍij-ke ḍi-k⌶ñj-ke ḍi-ku-ke
Genitive ḍij-a ḍi-k⌶ñ-a ḍi-ku
ḍ⌶j ramə
he Rama
‘He is Rama’
ḍ⌶j olen-ḍan
she go-past-perfect-3p(sg)
‘She had gone’
ḍija bari por⌶ya-k⌶ñj
he-gen. two son-dual
‘He has two sons’
ḍija apʰəi kon-ku
she-gen three child-pl
‘She has three children’
ḍij ⌶ñ-ke ḍoḍo-ba
he I-acc. see-pt-3p(sg)
‘He sees me’
ḍi-ku ⌶ñ-kʰen ḍo kʰenej
they(pl) I-acc. see-pt-3p(pl)
‘They(pl) see me’
ḍi-k⌶ñj jəldo iṭʰuiba
they(dl) early learn-fut.-3p(dl)
‘They (dl) will learn early’
⌶ñ ḍiku-ken ḍowen
I they-acc. see-past-1p(sg)
‘I saw them’
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN
Demonstrative pronouns show the contrasts of animate vs. inanimate and near vs. far. Animate demonstratives also show the distinction of dual and plural marker like personal pronouns, however they are absent in inanimate demonstratives.
Singular Dual Plural
Near ⌶nij ⌶n-k⌶ñj ⌶n-ku
Animate
Far ḍ⌶j ḍi-k⌶ñj ḍi-ku
Singular
Near ⌶ni
Inanimate
Far ḍi
ḍni ana aca be
this story good aux.verb
‘This story is good’
ḍni ura
this house
‘This is a house’
ḍi s⌶ñj ũca be
those tree tall aux.verb
‘Those trees are tall’
ḍi pala pətla be
that leaf thin aux.verb
‘That leaf is thin’
Like nouns and personal pronouns the demonstrative pronouns can also take case marking and postpositions, such as: -
Locative marker /en/ - ⌶n + en = yenen
yenen coj joken ‘What has yields this’
1 2 3 2 3 1
Adding ‘ṭo’ to the demonstrative pronominal base with some morphophonemic change derives the quantitative adjectives. The forms we can get up: -
⌶ni ‘this’ > eṭo ‘this much’
ḍi ‘that’ > ḍeṭo ‘that much’
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN
‘Who’
Sg. / Pl.
Nominative je
Accusative je-ke/je-n
Genitive je
/je/ always occurs before the verb and it does not take bound elements except dative, ablative etc. Somewhere it behaves like subject and somewhere as object. When it is an animate object the objective case marker /-kʰe/ has to be added.
je as object :- əm je hoy? you(sg) who aux.verb ‘who are you (sg)?’ ḍ⌶j je ja? he who (gender marker) ‘who is he?’ ḍ⌶j je ḍo? she who (gender marker) ‘who is she?’ əma saṭon je hejeba? you-gen. with who come-fut.t-1p(sg) ‘who will come with you(sg)?’ je haḍaiba ? who know-p.t-3p(sg) ‘who knows?’ je as subject :- je hejeba ‘who comes?’ pʰejer əpe kʰe je b⌶ḍjeba morning you who awakes ‘Who awakes you in the morning’ ⌶ni pʰƱṭƱn je g⌶ṭ⌶j ken this picture who sleep-perfect ‘Who is sleeping in this picture’ je as sociative :- əm je-saṭon tʰaṛba? you who-with stay ‘with whom you stay?’ ⌶nij je konṭe? this(anim.) who-gen. son ‘this(anim.) whose son?’ əpe je ken cata ba? you(pl) who want ‘whom do you(pl.) want?’ ‘What’ (Inanimate) Nominative coj Accusative coj Genitive coja Locative cojen /coj/ as subject coj lakken ḍan ‘what was happening?’ /coj/ as object ⌶ni coj ‘What is this?’ pʰƱṭƱn ⌶ni por⌶ya ṭin coj in-picture this boy head what ‘What is in the head of this boy in the picture’ /coj/ as locative mƱar cojen ḍoḍoba face in-what see-pt ‘In what do (you) see face?’
REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
The reflexive pronouns are expressed by genitive form of the pronoun with which it occurs like first person ‘⌶ñ’ becomes ‘⌶ñ-a’.
First person
⌶ñ ⌶ñ-a
al⌶ñj al⌶ñ-a
ale ale
Second person
əm əma
əp⌶ñj əp⌶ñ-a
əpe əpe
Third person
ḍ⌶j ḍ⌶ja
ḍ⌶kiñj ḍ⌶-kiñ-a
ḍ⌶ku ḍ⌶ku
Some illustrative examples of the reflexive pronouns in Korku are given below: -
⌶ñ ⌶ñ-ken aynan ḍoḍoləkken
I I-emp mirror-in see-pt-conti. -1p(sg)
‘I am seeing myself in the mirror’
⌶ñ ḍ⌶ku-ken ⌶ñ -ka ḍowen
I they-acc I-emp see-past-1p(sg)
‘I saw them myself’
Besides there is another form ‘ḍ⌶j-a’ which is used only with third person singular to denote self.
ḍ⌶j ḍ⌶ja ‘he himself like’
ḍ⌶j ḍ⌶ja iskul sene-lakken
she self-pos. school go-pt-continuous-3p(sg)
‘He/She is going to school herself’
ḍ⌶j ḍ⌶ja mwa:r ab-jen
he self-pos. face wash-past-3p(sg)
‘She/He washed his face’
Here demonstrative pronoun becomes ḍi in singular, irrespective of animate and inanimate noun.
ḍi ḍ⌶ja ‘it itself like’
INDEFINITE PRONOUN
Indefinite pronouns are derived from the basic interrogative forms by suffixing the markers –ka and –b(ʰ)i.
je ‘who’ > je-ka ‘someone’
jekan ‘to someone’
jen ‘to whom’
ṭuŋan ‘where’ > ṭuŋan-ka ‘somewhere’
copʰar ‘how’ > copʰar-ṭen-ka-bʰi ‘somehow’
coja ‘why’ > coja-ka ‘something’
coj ‘what’ > coj-ka ‘something’
cola ‘when’ > cola-ka ‘anytime’
coṭo ‘howmuch’ > coṭo-ka ‘anything’
je-ka kombrae
‘Ask someone’
⌶ñ ṭuŋan-ka olen-ḍan
I somewhere go-past-1p(sg)
‘I went somewhere’
ḍ⌶j copʰar ṭen ka bʰi jopʰeḍan
he somehow eat-past-3p(sg)
‘He ate somehow’
⌶ni ⌶ñ-ken cojaka yado didlaoba
this me something remind-pt
‘This reminds me something’
s⌶ñja iṭan cucka ḍoe
tree-gen under something keep(imp)
‘Keep something under the tree’
RELATIVE PRONOUN
Korku has borrowed /je/ word from Hindi for relative pronoun.
ḍellen je por⌶ya hejeba ḍ⌶j jan be
there who boy come-pt-3p he John aux.verb
‘The boy who comes there is John’
je siṭa naŋa ḍen be ḍ⌶j rama be
who dog leg break-pt that Ram-gen aux.
‘The dog whose leg is broken belongs to Ram’
ADJECTIVE
Adjective modifies noun, can be of various kinds on the basis of their semantic connotation such as age, value, human propensity, dimensions, physical property, colour, speed and numbers, etc. It always precedes the noun.
kenḍe ‘black’ > kenḍe por⌶ya ‘black boy’
acca ‘good’ > acca koro ‘good man’
gʰonej ‘lots of’ > gʰonej bədəḍa ‘lot of clouds’
bari ‘two’ > bari sal ‘two years’
kaṭij ‘sour’ > kaṭij ambe ‘sour mango’
beṛia ‘mad’ > beṛia siṭa ‘mad dog’
sana ‘old’ > sana koro ‘old man’
soba ‘smart’ > soba por⌶ya ‘smart boy’
goj ‘dead’ > goj sukṛi ‘dead pig’
Sometimes adjectives function as an intensifier.
kʰaṭ ‘big’ kʰaṭ-koro ‘big man’
kʰaṭ kon ‘eldest son’
kʰaṭ mama ‘eldest uncle’
kʰaṭ ʰaḍubu ‘very big number’
kʰub ‘very’ kʰub bʰaw ‘very rate’
kʰub ũca ‘very tall’
Adjectives can be reduplicated and so that the meaning of the base gets intensified.
uni-uni kapRe ‘new-new cloth’ (very new cloth)
juna-juna manDi ‘old-old word’ (very old word(s)),etc.
alaggo alaggo jilla ‘different villages’
Like other languages adjectives of adjectives are found, such as:
m⌶ya kʰub kenḍe po⌶ya
one very black boy ‘one very black-boy’
m⌶ya girbo puri koro
one poor orphan man ‘one poor orphan man’
Adjectives in this language can function as predicates also.
⌶ña gaw kʰub acca (hoy)
my village very good (be)
‘My village is very good’.
Some adjectives occur with nouns, instead of occurring directly, take a possessive /genitive marker -a with them.
rubuŋ ‘cold’ + koyo ‘wind/air’ > rubuŋ-a-koyo ‘cold wind’
Ol ‘writing’ + pen ‘pen’ > Ola-pen ‘writing pen’
Adjectives like urubuŋ, usu and ṭoŋṛe take with them intransitive past tense marker. Also it expresses completive sense of ‘attained status’.
urubuŋl-ñen ḍa ‘cooled water’
usu-en ḍoba ‘weak bullock’
ṭoŋṛe-n sani ‘weak child’
There are two derived pronominal adjectives /eṭo/ and /ḍeṭo/, which can take number specifics like other adjective forms.
Singular Dual Plural
eṭo eṭok⌶ñ eṭoku
ḍeṭo ḍeṭok⌶ñ ḍeṭoku
NUMERALS
Numerals are also treated as adjectives, because of modifying nouns. There are two types of numerals, such as cardinal and ordinal numerals. Cardinal numerals are used for counting and ordinal numerals are for order.
According to Sood (1966) numerals can be divided into following subgroups-
Numeral
Cardinal Ordinal Fractional Demonstratives
Nominal Adjectival Restrictive
Sood has stated that Korku does not have their own cardinal numerals after ten except twent /isa/. But it does not seem appropriate.
Cardinal Numerals
This language like other Munda languages twenty is used as basic unit for counting of higher numbers beyond 20.
The basic numerals of this system are the following –
1. m⌶ya 2. baria 3. apʰəy
4. upəun 5. mənei 6. turəi
7. yei 8. ilər 9. arai
10. gel 20. isa 100. seḍi
The teens are obtained by suffixing the lower numerals 1 to 9 to the unit of ten.
gel-m⌶ya ‘11’, gel-baria ‘12’, gel-upʰun ‘14’, etc.
There is an alternative way of counting of ‘teens’ with the help of conjunctive marker ḍo ‘and’, as follows –
gel ḍo m⌶ya ‘ten and one’ = 11
gel ḍo baria ‘ten and two’ = 12, etc.
The higher numerals are obtained by adding lower numerals to the unit of ‘20’ and isa is used when multiplication and gel is used when addition is needed. Also the relationship between lower units and saddi is of multiplication, such as:
isa-mya ‘21’, isabaria ‘22’, etc. isa-gel ‘30’, isagel-baria ‘32’, bari isa ‘40’, bari isagel ‘50’, apʰəyisa ‘60’, apʰəyisagel ‘70’, upʰunisa ‘80’, upʰunisagel ‘90’, m⌶ya seḍi ‘one hundred’ gel- seḍi ‘ten hundred’ = ‘one thousand’ As Sood’s statement the three forms of the cardinal numeral are as follows: Nominal Adjectival Restrictive m⌶ya- one m⌶ya- one mikom - one only Fraction terms are taken from Indo-Aryan sources: ada ‘half’ paw ‘quarter’ sawa ‘one and a quarter’ paune ‘three quarters’ etc. Frequentative forms are obtained by suffixing a bound form -bar to the numerals. m⌶ya – bar ‘once’ bari-bar ‘twice’, etc. Numeral ‘one’ can occur with koro ‘person’, to express animate ness. m⌶khor ‘one person’ (m⌶ya ‘one’ + koro ‘person’). m⌶ya koro kamay lakken ‘one person / man is working’, m⌶kʰor/m⌶gʰom kamay lakken ‘one is working’. Numerals can be repeated to give distributive sense. First three numerals change to some extent optionally. m⌶ya + m⌶ya > m⌶ya – m⌶ya / m⌶mma ‘one-one’ (one each), bari-bari > ba-bar thayla ‘two-two bags’ (two bags each), apʰəy-apʰəy > apʰo-apʰo tʰayla ‘three-three bags’ (three bags each).
Ordinal Numerals
The ordinals used in Korku are the borrowed ones from Hindi, which are not commonly used. The same thing Sood opined that Korku has its own only two ordinal terms, i.e.
suṭu ‘first’ tauwa ‘last’ And others are borrowed from Hindi language pehla ‘first’ dusra ‘second’ t⌶sra ‘third’, etc. There is no overt marker is used for ordinal-ness. Ordinal number is obtained by affixing a number with a noun, such as m⌶ya-meT ‘one eye’ or ‘first eye’ bari-meT ‘two eyes’ or ‘second eye’ Numeral for ‘time’ is produced by suffixing -hel/-hepTa to the basic numerals 1 to 10. mya-hel /hepTa ‘one time’ bari-hel /helpTa ‘two times’ gel-hel /helpTa ‘ten times’ Demonstratives: For qualify animate nouns both dual and plural endings such as kiñj and ku are added. Singular Dual Plural Ini ‘this’ inkiñj ‘these (dl)’ inku ‘these’ ḍij ‘that’ ḍikiñj ‘those (dl)’ ḍiku ‘those’
VERB MORPHOLOGY
A verbal form in Korku consists of the verb stem and both vocoid, concord endings person-number. Verb roots have two shapes, a full form and a contracted form. Sometimes the CV of the contracted form repeats to get the full form, such as:-
ḍendo vs ḍeḍendo ‘to punish’
ṭam vs ṭaṭam ‘to rinse’
nu vs nunu ‘to drink’
kul vs kukul ‘to send’
nem vs nenem ‘to shoot’
cəṭa vs cəcəṭa ‘to warm’
jom vs jojom ‘to eat’
jam vs jajam ‘to weep’
ram vs raram ‘to get thirsty’
siriñj vs sisiriñj ‘to sing’
jul vs jujul ‘to burn’
kʰap vs kakʰap ‘to bite’
benḍo vs bebenḍo ‘to close’
gəla vs gogəla ‘to collect’
Some irregular forms of verbs are also seen in Korku (means verb form in present tense totally changes in past tense). Such as: -
sene-ba ‘go/will go’ changes to olen ‘went’
ju-ba ‘give/will give’ changes to ile-ḍan ‘had given’
Verb Types
Transitive verbs
Transitive verbs in Korku take an object and agree with the object in person, number.
Following are some examples of transitive verbs:-
jojom ‘to eat’
nunu ‘to drink’
ḍeḍej ‘to break’
mumnḍa ‘to hit’
ju ‘to give’
sasa ‘to take’
ḍoḍo ‘to see’
Ol ‘to write’
kokoñej ‘to call’
sisiriñj ‘to sing’
uṭʰa ‘to catch’
ṭaṭam ‘to wash’
Di-transitivisation
⌶ñ ḍ⌶jken mya kitab ikʰeḍan
I him one book give-past-1p(sg)
‘I gave him a book’
⌶ñ ḍ⌶jken mya ciṭʰi olenḍan
I him one letter write-past-1p(sg)
‘I wrote him a letter’
Intransitive verbs
Intransitive verb cannot take object.
sene ‘to go’
heje ‘to come’
uyər ‘to swim’
saṛup ‘to run’
boco ‘to fall’
ira ‘to return’
bubʰu ‘to bark’
sendra ‘to walk’
goj ‘to die’
giṭij ‘to sleep’
jam ‘to weep’
aŋul ‘to take bath’
susun ‘to dance’
In this language there are derived intransitives from transitive base, which behave like impersonal.
ḍoḍo ‘to see’ becomes ḍugu ‘to be seen’
⌶ñ sinema ḍoḍo ba ‘I see cinema’
⌶ña ṭen sinema ḍugu ba ‘Cinema is seen by me’
jojom ‘to eat’ becomes jomu ‘to be eaten’
⌶ña ṭen aṭa jomuba ‘Food is eaten by me’
In other sense we can tell, that intransitive can be passive verb.
Causative verbs
There are various ways to make one verb into causative verb.
(i) By adding [-kʰej / -ej] intransitive verbs can be causative verbs, such as
/giṭij/ ‘to sleep’ /giṭij-ej/ ‘to cause to sleep’
/uyer/ ‘to swing’ /uyerej/ ‘cause to swing’
/saṛup/ ‘to run’ /saṛubej/ ‘cause to run’
/boco/ ‘to fall’ /bocowej/ ‘cause to fall’
/ira/ ‘to return’ /irawej/ ‘cause to return’
/bʰƱbʰu/ ‘to bark’ /bƱbʰuwej/ ‘cause to bark’
/sendra/ ‘to walk’ /sendrawej/ ‘cause to walk’
/goj/ ‘to die’ /gojej/ ‘cause to die’
/jam/ ‘to weep’ /jamej/ ‘cause to weep’
/aŋul/ ‘to take bath’ /aŋulej/ ‘cause to take bath’
/ari/ ‘to be happy’ /ari-kʰej/ ‘make one happy’
/susun/ ‘to dance’ /susunej/ ‘to cause to dance’
/nunu/ ‘to drink’ /anuwenej/ ‘cause to drink’
(ii) Sometimes addion of /a-/ prefix forms causative verb, like
nunu ‘to drink’ anu ‘to cause to drink’
⌶ñ ḍa nunu ba ‘I drink water’
⌶ñ rəmesken ḍa anue ba ‘I make Ramesh to drink water’
(iii) Sometimes causative form is derived by repeating its initial CV, such as: -
munda ‘to hit’ mumunda ‘to cause to hit’
pəṛao ‘to read’ pəpəṛao ‘to cause to read’
boco ‘to fall’ boboco ‘to cause to fall’
ira ‘to return’ iira ‘to cause to return’
sendra ‘to walk’ sesendra ‘to cause to walk’
nij ‘to open’ ninij ‘to cause to open’
kikji ‘to sell’ kikjio ‘to cause to sell’
jam ‘to weep’ jajam ‘to cause to weep’
COPULA VERB
Copula verb is basically existential and show the distinction of animate and inanimate depending on the Noun complement.
VERBAL INFLECTION
Verbs in Korku show the distinction of tense, aspect and mood.
Tense
In Korku the tense distinction in verbs is between past vs. non-past. Verbal forms take [-ba] in non-past and [ –en], [-kʰe], [-ḍan], [-wen] in past, irrespective of any person, number of the subject which can be a pronoun, or a noun (animate or inanimate).
Simple present / non-past
/-ba/ is non-past marker. It has no agreement with person, number, gender and occurs after the verb stem. /heje-ba/ ‘comes/will come’ /sene ba/ ‘goes’ /jojom-ba/ ‘eats/will eat’ /kəmay ba/ ‘works/will work’ /iskul ba/ ‘goes to school/studies’ /Ol ba/ ‘writes’ /apʰəl ba/ ‘breaks’ /əpʰir ba/ ‘flies’ /cəcra ba/ ‘grazs’ /aru ba/ ‘makes / builds / constructs’ ale ḍoḍoba ‘we see’ siṭa bʰubʰuba ‘dog barks’ ⌶ñ seneba ‘I go/will go’ ḍ⌶j ⌶ñ-ke ḍoḍoba ‘he sees/will see me’ Simple past For making past tense /-ken/ and /–en/, /-yen/, /-wen/, /-ben/ are added to verbal base. Examples: - /g⌶ṭ⌶j-en/ ‘slept’ /ər⌶ken/ ‘became happy’ /apʰ⌶ren/ ‘flew’ /Olken/ ‘wrote’ /higrayen/ ‘was afraid’ / ‘feared’ /menan/ ‘said’ /gʰaṭayen/ ‘found’ ale kakƱ uṭʰa-ben ‘we caught fish’ ḍ⌶j ol-en ‘he went’ por⌶ya g⌶ṭ⌶j-en ‘boy slept’
ASPECT
In Korku aspectual distinctions are of between past and non-past progression and perfective. In Korku progression aspect is expressed with the help of verb /lək/ inflected for past tense becoming /ləkken/ after the main verb which functions the --------of which verbal form. These progression forms can occur in past as well as non-past/present tense.
(i) (a) Non-Past Progressive:- Present/Non-past can occur without any tense auxiliary whereas Past progressive will have Past tense auxiliary [ḍan] and always follows the verb stem.
⌶ñ s⌶s⌶riñj- ləkken ‘I am singing’ ḍ⌶j heje- ləkken ‘She is coming’ siṭa bʰubʰu- ləkken ‘Dog is barking’ ḍa gʰəma- ləkken ‘It is raining’ (b) Past Progressive:- Only /-ḍan/ is added to the non-past continuous form. jan s⌶s⌶riñj ləkken ḍan ‘John was singing’ sita kʰyl ləkken ḍan ‘Sita was playing’ ⌶ñ heje ləkken ḍan ‘I was going’ (ii) (a) Non-past perfect:- [-ken] is added to the verbal base. je giṭij ken ‘Who has slept’ yenen coj joken ‘What has yielded in this’ ⌶ña kon hej ken ‘My son has come’ (b) Past perfect:- [-ḍan] can be added to both transitive and intransitive verbs. giṭij-en ‘slept’ ⌶ñ giṭij-en ḍan ‘I had slept’ ol-en ‘went’ ḍ⌶j ol-en ḍan ‘He had gone’ jo-pʰe ‘ate’ ⌶ñ aṭa jom-kʰe-ḍan ‘I had eaten roti’
Personal Suffixes:-
In our data except third person plural personal suffixes are not available. But both Drake (1903) and Nagaraja (1999) have stated that these personal markers are the reduced forms of personal pronouns and occur as part of the verbal complex. The list prepared by Nagaraja is as follows:
Singular Dual Plural First person -ñ, mi liñ(j) (excl.) le (excl.) lañ(j) (incl.) buñ(j) (incl.) Second person mi piñ(j) pe Third person ec kiñ(j) ku Drake’s (1903) list can be given below: First person -ñ liñ (excl.) le (excl.) lañ (incl.) buñ (incl.) Second person mi, am piñg pe Third person ec kiñg ku
ADVERB
Adverbs modify verbs. They can be divided into different types on the basis of manner, spatial, temporal, frequency etc. In Korku they precede the verbal constructions. But in some cases adverbs can occur sentence-finally, such as:-
⌶ñ heje-bi ban gaphaŋ I come-incl. neg tomorrow ‘I will not come tomorrow at all’ Both derived and non-derived adverbs are found in this language. Some non-derived adverbs of this language are as follows: ae ‘now’ phejer ‘morning’ cola ‘when’ siŋgrup ‘evening’ ṭaw ‘below’ raṭo ‘night’ badon ‘after’ khija ‘like’ ḍ⌶ŋan ‘there’ jhəṭpəṭ ‘quickly’ Adverbs do not have any general derivative markers. Mostly ablative case marker ten is used for this purpose. higra ‘fear’ > higraṭen ‘fearfully’ khəmbal ‘heavy’ > khəmbal ṭen ‘heavily’ kirsa ‘rich’ > kirsanṭen ‘richly’ dʰira ‘slow’ > dʰiraṭen ‘slowly’ tala ‘deep’ > talaṭen ‘deeply’ arambo ‘comfort’ > aramboṭen ‘comfortably’ jor ‘force’ > jorṭen ‘forcefully’ Some adverbs form by suffixation of -ka manḍuka ‘intentionally’ pehlaka ‘already’ noku ‘here’ sədaka ‘often’ hoku ‘there’ ṭika/ṭaka ‘yet’ rojka ‘daily’ kʰaḍ lənka ‘far away’ ṭipka ‘point’ bʰəlaka ‘safely’ Sometimes -ka form results in interrogative forms, such as: cola ‘when’ > colaka ‘sometime’ ṭone ‘where’ > ṭone-ka ‘somewhere’ Adverb of locative- There are other two forms, i.e., nije ‘here’ (pin-pointing) and huje ‘there’ (pin-pointing).
ECHO-FORMATION
In most of the echo words either the full word of last of it are repeated in the language and there is some change in the elements like vowel or consonant and give the meaning of ‘like something’. Like many languages we found a varieties of rules of echo-formation in Korku language. Part that is repeated or remaining there is shown with X. Some of these rules are as follows-
1. CVX → CV1X kañkar-kuñkar ‘in-laws and such’ Here we see there is a change in the vowel of the first syllable. 2. CVX → C1V1X Both consonant and vowel changes in the next part of word-formation, such as: dama-gima ‘money and such’ ma:nḍi-runḍi ‘converse’ munḍi-ḍenḍi ‘ring and such’ cindra-bundra ‘worn-out (cloth)’ 3. CX → C1X Only consonant changes in the next part, such as: goṛos-poṛos ‘intimate friendship’ səkər-məkər ‘quickly’ 4. CVXV → CV1XV2 Consonants remain same but both the two vowels change in the next part, such as: reŋe-raŋo ‘of different colours’ 5. CVCX → C1V1C2V1X Two consonants and one vowel of the first part change, with an addition of another vowel, in the next part, such as: konku-pucuku ‘children and such’ 6. CVC1X → CV1C2X Both vowel and consonant change, only first consonant remains as usual in the next part, such as: ḍawen-ḍupen ‘harvesting and such’ 7. VX → CV1X With an addition of extra consonant, vowel changes in the next part, such as: aŋi-giŋi ‘shirt and such’ aŋluj-siŋluj ‘bathing and such’ araŋa-turaŋa ‘overnight’s food and such’ aṭa-giṭa ‘food and such’ əḍub-juḍub ‘-------------- əswən-pəswən ‘----------
DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY
DERIVATION OF NOUNS
In Korku nouns are derived from stems of various word classes such as nouns, adjectives and verbs. The derived nouns are obtained by suffixation and prefixation.
Nouns from nouns
Agentive nouns can be derived from non-agentive nouns by suffixation of /-alej/ or /-minij/ and /-ku/.
kʰiṭi ‘farm’ > kʰiṭi-alej / kʰiṭi-minij ‘farmer’
haṭi ‘market’ > haṭi-min-ku ‘shopkeepers’
haṭi-ku ‘buyers’
kamay ‘work’ > kamay-min-ku ‘workers’
ura ‘house’ > ura-minij ‘member of house’
ura-min-kiñj ‘two members of house’
ura-min-ku ‘members of house’
gaw ‘village’ > gaw-ku ‘villagers’
Nouns from verbs
Agentive human nouns are formed by adding /-min/ to the verbal root followed by number markers, such as /-minij/ (singular), /-min-kiñ/ (dual), /-min-ku/ (plural).
Singular Dual Plural susun ‘dance’ susunminij ‘dancer’ susun-min-kiñ susun-min-ku heje ‘come’ heje-minij ‘comer’ heje-min-kiñ ‘two comers’ heje-min-ku ‘comers’ Ol ‘write’ Ol-minij ‘writer’ Ol-min-kiñ ‘two writers’ Ol-min-ku ‘writers’ hindṭi ‘wander ’ hindṭi-minij ‘wanderer’ hindṭi-min-kiñ ‘two wanders’ hindṭi-min-ku ‘wanderers’ saṭup ‘run’ saṭup-minij ‘runner’ saṭup-min-kiñ ‘two runners’ saṭup-min-ku ‘runners’ Agentive human nouns are formed by adding /-miṭʰaj/ to the verbal base, such as: - susu-miṭʰaj ‘tailor’ Somewhere verbal nouns are found, derived from verbs, such as: bebenḍo ‘to stop’ > bebenḍo hukum ‘stopped order’ giṭij ‘to sleep’ > giṭija kone ‘bedroom’ Ol ‘to write’ > Ol ‘hand writing’ Nouns from adjectives Nouns are formed by adding –i, -ṭen, -ka, -ba, -a with adjective forms. kirsa ‘rich’ kirsani ‘richness’ hosiar ‘clever’ hosiari ‘cleverness’ məjak ‘fun’ məjaki ‘funny’ kemjor ‘weak’ kemjori ‘weakness’ cəuḍa ‘wide’ cəuḍai ‘width’ beṛia ‘mad’ beṛiaṭen ‘madness’ kʰəmbal ‘heavy’ kʰəmbal ṭen ‘heaviness’ ləmba ‘long’ ləmbaṭen ‘length’ lokʰəṛ ‘dry’ lokʰəṛen ‘dryness’ beṛe ‘fat’ beṛeka ‘fatty’ accʰa ‘good’ accʰaka ‘goodness’ jʰuṭa ‘false’ jʰuṭanla ‘falsehood’ cikkəṭ ‘smooth’ cikkṭa ‘smoothness’ lajo ‘shy’ lajoba ‘shyness’ soba ‘smart’ sobaba ‘smartness’ nərəm ‘soft’ nərəmba ‘softness’ ḍʰepa ‘thick’ ḍʰepaba ‘thickness’
DERIVATION OF ADJECTIVE Adjectives can be derived from verbs, nouns, adverbs and adjectives also. Adjective from verb Verbal forms precede the noun to derive an adjective. These verbal forms express the completion of action. Such as: ol-en ‘went’ olen-koro ‘went person’ olen-sala ‘last year’ go-en sukṛi ‘dead pig’ boco-ken ju ‘fallen fruit’ pəkao-jen kere ‘ripened banana’ Adjective from noun By the influence of Indo-Aryan languages, /- i/ is added to noun to form an adjective. məjak ‘fun’ > məjaki ‘funny’ cəuṛa ‘wide’ > cəuṛai ‘width’ Adjective from adverb sene ‘to go’ ay-sene koro ‘now going person’ Adjective from adjective sana ‘old’ > sana-en ‘oldest’ Basically ordinal numerals are used as the derived forms from Indo-Aryan languages, whereas /-i/ is suffixed with the derived forms: couʰa ‘fourth’ > couʰai ‘fourth part’ Adjective from pronoun Basically demonstrative pronouns /⌶ni/ and /ḍi/ behave like adjectives in Korku, such as: ⌶ni ḍa niũḍ⌶ ban be ‘This water is not sweet’ ḍi gaw kʰub acca ‘That village is very beautiful’ ⌶ni ura d⌶ja be ‘This house is his’ /⌶nij/ is the demonstrative pronoun used in case of animate nouns, but when it becomes adjective, /⌶ni/ form is used for this purpose. ni por⌶ya acca be ‘This boy is good’
The quantitative adjectives are derived by adding /-ṭo/ to the demonstrative pronominal base with some morphophonemic change. These forms are as follows:
/eṭo/ ‘this much’ from /⌶ni/ ‘this’ /ḍeṭo/ ‘that much’ from /ḍi/ ‘that’
DERIVATION OF VERB Verb from Noun kora ‘road’ > kora ḍoḍo ‘wait’ utər ‘answer’ > utərmanḍie ‘to answer’ god ‘adopt’ > godin səsa ‘to adopt’ mədəd ‘help’ > mədəd ḍaḍa ‘to help’ DERIVATION OF ADVERB Adverb from Noun Adverb can be derived from noun, such as: gomej ‘sun/god’ > gomej-oḍ ‘east’ gomej-nəmru ‘west’ raṭo ‘night’ > adʰi-raṭo ‘mid night’ COMPOUND MORPHOLOGY Noun-Noun /gaw-haṭi/ ‘village-market’ /kəṛi-ḍəbi/ ‘match box’ /raṭo-ḍin/ ‘day-night’ /por⌶ya-ḍarai/ ‘boy-girl’ /may-aba/ ‘mother-father’ /anṭe-konjəi/ ‘son’s daughter’ /siṭa-naŋa/ ‘dog’s leg’ /siṭa-hup/ ‘dog’s hair’ /səkər-rogo/ ‘diabetes’ /jali-dora/ ‘cage thread’ Adjective-Noun /uni ḍa/ ‘fresh water’ /capʰni ḍʰela/ ‘small stone’ /juna ura/ ‘old house’ /kʰara-ḍa/ ‘sea-water’ /sana-koro/ ‘old man’ /bari-kitab/ ‘two books’ /cikna kasa/ ‘clay’ Adjective-Adjective /səbei-gaw korku/ ‘whole village people’ /kʰub-ũca/ ‘very high’ /kʰaṭ-beṛe/ ‘very-big’ /apʰəi-cʰoutʰai/ ‘three by four’ Verb-Verb All the verbs can take [cale] as reinforcer to form a compound verb showing the repeated action i.e. ‘go and doing’ like /kani cale/ ‘go and ------ /jƱm cale/ ‘go and eating’ /jam cale/ ‘go and weeping’ Another type compound verb forms are obtained by adding the verb form /laj/ ‘to start’ with other verb forms, such as: /julu laj-jen/ ‘started burning’ /kokle laj-jen/ ‘started looking’ /hako laj-jen/ ‘started shouting’ /sene laj-jen/ ‘started going’ /kapaṭiyũ laj-jen/ ‘started shivering’ /ḍoḍo laj-jen/ ‘started seeing/looking’ /ḍarkraṭiyũ laj-jen/ ‘started yelling’ /lanḍa laj-jen/ ‘started laughing’ Other compound verb forms are as follows: - /heje-sene/ ‘going and coming’ /nunu-jojoma/ ‘for eating and drinking’ /asi-jojom/ ‘beg and eat’ /curi-le-nej/ ‘stole and brought’ Noun-Verb aṭa-jojom ‘food’ raŋec-hen hunger came ‘felt hungry’ bʰərosa-ḍoy ‘keep trust’ Verb-Noun heje-məhina ‘next month’ nunu-ḍa ‘drinking water’ Adjective-Noun dusra-gaw ‘other village’ sani-gaw ‘small village’ pehla-ura ‘first house’ Adverb-Adverb eŋan-ḍiŋan ‘here-there’ Adverb-Adverb siŋrub-aṭa ‘dinner’ ulṭa ṭi ‘left arm’ MOOD In Korku, following moods are found. Imperative Mood Imperative mood marker is /-e/. uran sene ‘Go home’ ⌶ni ken phəḍie it acc break ‘Break it’ ĩŋan haje here come ‘Come here’ ĩŋan hajeni ‘Come here (hon.)’ dʰiraṭen jome slowly eat ‘Eat slowly ḍiŋan sene there go ‘Go there’ jəldi niḍe ‘Run fast’ mehnət ḍae ‘Work hard’ ḍ⌶j-ken hakoe him call ‘Call him’ akʰe-ṭen cakʰan-ken mage axe-with wood-acc cut ‘Cut the wood with an axe’ cae-ken kopo-n sage tea-acc cup-abl take ‘Take tea in a cup’ ⌶ñ-ken m⌶ya ana sunaṭiẽ I-acc one story tell ‘Tell me a story’ Obligatory mood ⌶ña ape manḍi sikhaṭiũ jəruri be my your language learn should ‘I should learn your language’ khyalminkun jərur niyəmə palən ḍaḍa ḍəu ba players should rule obey ‘Players should obey the rules’ Possibility (and ability) mood ⌶ñ əma boli manḍiababe I your language tell ‘I can speak your language’ ram ellen ban heje babe Ram here neg come ‘Ram may not come here’ Hortative mood bo mya iskul haruba let us one school build ‘Let us build a school’ khus ṭhaḍe ‘Be happy’ phikər baki ‘Don’t worry’ sumudurken santo ḍaba to-sea calm be ‘Let the sea be calm’ Permissive mood ⌶ñ əma gon jome? I you with eat ‘May I eat with you?’ ⌶ñ ellen subaŋ ju? I here sit ‘May I sit here?’ əm ae bəyabe you now leave ‘You can leave now’ ḍ⌶j ken sisiriñj ḍaba him sing ‘Let him sing’ Interrogative mood ḍ⌶j je ja? he who gender marker ‘Who is he?’ əm copʰar? you how ‘How are you?’ əm coṭo sala? you how old ‘How old are you?’ əma ura ṭuŋan? your house where ‘Where is your house?’ Gerundive Form [ṭen / jen] is the marker of gerundial form, such as: - Ʊriṭen ‘having worn’ jutjen ‘having burnt’ ṭaṭanjen ‘felt thirsty’ ḍoṭen ‘having seen’ saṭen ‘having taken’
SYNTAX:
The word order of Korku language is: subject – object – verb. Thus, the subject occurs first in the sentence, object and verb follow the subject. Other grammatical categories like adjectives occur within the noun phrase and adverb within the verb phrase. Predicate have always a verb phrase, which is the nucleus of the sentence, and the subject always constitutes of a noun phrase. Adjectival as well as adverbial phrases also occur as the part of the predicate. A sentence in Korku may be simple, complex or compound.
Simple Sentences:
A simple sentence is an independent clause, which contains one subject and one verb. Following are the independent clause types, which form the simple sentence types.
(1) N Comp V Cop
This type of clause consists of a nominal or nominal phrase as a subject, a complement and the copula verb, which is a linking verb between the noun subject and the complement.
N N V Cop ram pulis hoy ‘Ram is a policeman’ ⌶ñ masṭər hoy ‘I am a teacher’ m⌶ya siṭa ḍan ‘One dog was’ N Adj V cop ḍ⌶j sana be ‘He is old’ N Av V cop por⌶ya ḍ⌶ŋgan ḍan ‘That boy was there’ ḍ⌶j-a por⌶yaku ellen ṭakʰaku ‘His son are here’ ⌶ñ-a konjeəiku ellen ṭakʰaku ‘My daughters are here’ ⌶ñ uran ḍan ‘I was in the house’ ⌶ñ-a por⌶yaku uran be ‘My sons are in the house’
TYPES OF SIMPLE SENTENCES: Intransitive sentences: In Korku /be/ is the auxiliary marker, which is used as optionally also. pala lolokʰoṛ ba be leaf dries aux ‘The leaf dries’ titu aŋgul ba Titu bath-pt-3p (sg) ‘Titu bathes’ meri jojom ba Mary eat-pt-3p(sg) ‘Mary eats’ Simple transitive sentences: These sentences are formed by transitive verbs, which take a single object. ⌶ñ cauli jojomba I rice eat-pt-1p(sg) ‘I eat rice’ ḍ⌶j apla kətəḍia ken aŋul ba she her child-acc. bath-pt-3p(sg) ‘She bathes her child’ Ditransitive sentences: Di-transitive verbs can take two objects. ram ⌶ñ-ken aṭa juba Ram me roti give-pt-3p(sg) ‘Ram gives me roti’ Causative sentences: Causative form /bəjəṭen/ is used with the subject to construct causative form. Some causative sentences are given below. Intransitive Sentence: narel boco ba be ‘Coconut falls’ Causative Sentence: koyo bəjəṭen narel ⌶ṭan boco ba be wind cause coconut down fall-pt-3p(sg) aux ‘Wind makes the coconut fall down’ Intransitive Sentence: siṭa saṛup ba be dog run-pt-3p (sg) ‘Dog runs’ Causative Sentence: rama bəjəṭen siṭa saṛup ba be Ram cause dog run-pt-3p (sg) ‘Ram makes the dog run’
Passive sentences
The sentences with passive voice also occur in this language. /dwara/, /ṭiṭen/ and the ablative marker /ṭen/ is also used for this purpose. Some passive sentences are given below.
Active: ale cauli jojomba ‘We eat rice’ Passive: cauli ale dwara jojomba ‘Rice is eaten by us’ Active: ram ⌶ni kaṭʰom ken uṭʰaben ḍan Ram this turtle-acc catch-past-3p(sg) ‘Ram caught this turtle’ Passive: ⌶ni kaṭʰom rama ṭiṭen uṭʰaben ḍan this turtle Ram-by catch-past-3p(sg) ‘This turtle was caught by Ram’ Active: ale-səbeiku s⌶ḍu narela siñj ṭen gogəla ba we (pl) toddy coconut tree-abl collect-pt-1p(pl) ‘We collect toddy from coconut tree’ Passive: s⌶ḍu ale-səbeiku ṭen narela siñj ṭen gogəlaba toddy we (pl)-by coconut tree-abl collect-pt-1p(pl) ‘Toddy is collected by us from the tree’
Comparative sentence:- There is no specific marker for comparative degree, but they use ablative case marker /-ṭen/ for expression of both comparative and superlative degrees.
Positive degree ram həri oŋoka uca be ‘Ram is as tall as Hari’ bəmpuka teresa oŋo kʰaṭ bəne be ‘Bompooka is not as big as Teressa’ jems siṭa ḍeviḍa siṭa ka oŋo cətur be ‘Jame’s dog is as clever as David’s dog’ Comparative degree jilu baki jilukuṭen accʰa tʰaṛba ‘This meat is as good as other meat’ ram hari ṭen ləmba be Ram Hari-abl. tall aux ‘Ram is taller than Hari’ ⌶ni ura ḍ⌶ uraṭen sani be this house that house-abl. small aux ‘This house is smaller than that house’ ⌶ni narel baki narela-ṭen kʰaṭ be this coconut other coconut-abl. big aux ‘This coconut is bigger than all other coconuts’ kəməla radʰa-ṭen jada pulum be Kamala Radha-abl. More fair aux ‘Kamala is fairer than Radha’ ḍev⌶ḍ-a siṭa p⌶ṭərsən-a siṭa-ṭen jada pətla be David-gen dog Peterson-gen dog-abl more lean aux ‘David’s dog is leaner than Peterson’s dog’ Superlative degree həri sitarama səgḍakuṭen kʰaṭ kon be ‘Hari is Sitaram’s eldest son’ deuli səgḍakuṭen kʰaṭ gaw be ‘Deuli is the biggest in the village’ morisa sukṛi ini səbeikuṭen accʰa be ‘Morris’s pig is the fattest among all the pigs’ gawen ini səgḍakuṭen ləmba ura be ‘This is the tallest house in this village’ səgḍakuṭen accʰa ḍeres ‘Best dress’
Negative sentences
Negative elements of copula sentences
In Korku /bəne/, /baki/, /ban/, /heiba/, /ḍun/, /atʰika/, /baŋgon/ etc. are the negative markers. Nagaraja has mentioned another negative marker such as /baw/. /baki/ is used to negate the imperative sentences, where as /ban/, and /ḍun/ are used in case of simple non-past construction and past construction respectively /heiba/ and /ban/ function for same purpose. For example:
ḍij heiba heje “he does not come” ḍij ban heje “he does not come” /ban/, /heiba/ can occur either before the verb stem or after the verb stem. /atʰika/ occurs after the verb stem. Nagaraja has stated /atʰika/ is served
as negate the delayed ness. /baŋgon/ is used for negative answers. ḍ⌶j jan bəne he John neg ‘He is not John’ ⌶ni ⌶ñ-a saikəl bəne this my cycle neg ‘This is not my cycle’ ⌶ni ḍa nunuliyəkə heiba this water drinkable aux-neg ‘This water is not drinkable’ ⌶nku-ṭen ṭunika bʰi narel acʰa bəne be coconut good neg-aux ‘None of these coconuts are good’ ⌶ni ⌶ñ-a ṭuknij bəne this my basket neg ‘This is not my basket’ ale atʰ⌶ka s⌶s⌶riñjlakkenḍan we (pl) neg sing-past-prog-1p(pl) ‘We were not singing’ ● In present tense negative marker precedes the verb, whereas in past tense negative marker follows the verb, such as ⌶ñ ban sene I neg go ‘I do not go’ ⌶ñ sene ḍun-ka I go neg-def ‘I did not go’ s⌶ŋɔla meran baki sene fire near neg go ‘Do not go near the fire’ Negative of Imperative sentences siŋla meran baki sene fire-gen near neg go-emp. ‘Do not go near the fire’ ⌶ñ-a səmman baki teŋe ‘Do not stand in front of me’ Interrogative sentences (i) Yes-No rəma cuc əm-a konjəi? Rama what you-gen. daughter ‘Is Rama your daughter?’ cuc əm ⌶ñ-a mədəd ḍaḍa ba? what you my help-pt-2p(sg) ‘Do you want my help?’ pitər heje məhinan hejeba? Peter next month-loc. come-future-3p(sg) ‘Will Peter come next month?’ (ii) Wh-questions: əm-a jumu cuc? you-gen. name what ‘What is your name?’ əm cuc jojom ba? you what eat-future-2p(sg) ‘What will you eat?’
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are the combination of two or more than two simple sentences and a conjunctive word occurs in between the simple sentences. In Korku /ḍo/ ‘and’, /ya/ ‘or’ and /lekin/ ‘but’ are the conjunctive words.
ellen m⌶ya siṭa ḍo m⌶ya minu be here one dog and one cat aux. ‘Here is a cat and a dog’ ⌶ni kera kʰaṭ ḍo pəkaojen be this banana big and ripened aux. ‘This banana is big and ripened’ pʰuṭbəl ḍo bəlibəl kʰyale football and volleyball play-imp. ‘Play football. Play volleyball’ ḍ⌶j sene-ba ya ⌶ñ sene-ba he go-future-3p(sg) or I go-future-1p(sg) ‘He will go or I will go’ ⌶ñ olen ḍan lekin sene ḍun ka I go-past.prog-1p(sg) but go-neg ‘I had to go but I did not go’ Direct Speech and Quoted Speech: may men-an “ḍ⌶j ⌶ña kon” ‘Mother said “he is my son” ’ ḍ⌶ku men-an “am-en cuc hona?” ‘They said “what do you want?” ’ ramə men-an “⌶ñ seneba” ‘Rama said “I will go”
Complex Sentences:
Complex sentences are the combination of one main clause and one subordinate clause, which precedes the main clause.
Sub-ordination:
jan ũca karən ṭen ⌶ni pʰəl ken goṭja ba be John tall cause this fruit-acc pluck-pt aux. ‘Because John is tall he can pluck this fruit’ ⌶ña bəjəṭen ḍellen jʰəgṛa ḍan my cause there quarrel was ‘On account of me there was a quarrel’ bimari karən ṭen gʰonej korku goen disease cause people died ‘On account of disease people died’ sanaen karən ṭen gʰonej korku goen old-age cause people died ‘On account of old age people died’ ḍellen apʰəiku jərurət bane be sirpʰ m⌶kʰor maka there three need neg aux only one-person enough ‘There is no use of three men. One is enough’ Complex sentences with Conditional clauses yədi ⌶ñ accʰa ṭason paṭṭa sene ba be ‘I will come tomorrow if I am well’ yədi ale meran kʰyalo jaga ṭ⌶kʰa ṭason ale g⌶ḍaku bʰi kʰyal ba be ‘If we have playground our children will play’ Relative clause construction jo koro ama saṭon ile ḍan ḍ⌶j ⌶ña səgəḍo be ‘The person who accompanied me is my friend’
PHRASE
A sentence may be divided into major two constituents: Noun phrase (NP), Verb phrase (VP).
NOUN PHRASE
Noun phrases are those constructions, which may replace a single noun in a sentence. A noun phrase may consist of a noun or a pronoun as its head. The head may occur by itself.
por⌶ya ‘boy’ siṭa ‘dog’ ⌶ñ ‘I’ əm ‘you’
Attributive Noun phrases-
Except pronouns, nouns can take attributes, which precede the nominal heads. The elements, which can occur as attributes, are the following-
(1) Demonstratives- ⌶ni ‘this’, ḍi ‘that’ ⌶ni ana acʰa be ‘This story is good’ ḍ⌶ s⌶ñj ũca be ‘That trees are tall’ (2) Adjectives- surəi ‘bad’, lokʰəṛ ‘dry’ surəi koro ‘bad man’ lokʰəṛ pala ‘dry leaves’ accʰa por⌶ya ‘good boy’ kenḍe minu ‘black cat’ (3) Numerals- (m⌶ya ‘one’, bari ‘two’, upʰun ‘four’)- Cardinal numerals occurring as the modifier in the noun phrases. adʰi raṭo ‘mid night’ m⌶ya siṭa ‘one dog’ bari siṭakiñj ‘two dogs’ apʰəi ṭarai-ku ‘three girls’ gel ura ‘ten houses’ upʰun sal ‘four years’ Ordinal numerals occurring as the modifiers where dual and plural markers are added to animate nouns only, such as peʰla por⌶ya ‘first boy’ dusra siṭa-ku ‘second dogs’ t⌶sra ura ‘third house’ (4) Possessive constructions- /-a/ is the possessive case marker. ⌶ñ-a kon-ku ‘my children’ əm-a pətel ‘your leader’ ḍ⌶j-a minu ‘his cat’ (5) Infinitives – heje-sene korku ‘coming-going people’ (6) Quantitative (adj.) + gen. + N m⌶ya kenḍe siṭa ‘one black dog’ kʰub accʰa ura ‘very good house’ kʰaṭ ləmba kora ‘very long road’ (7) Dem. + adj. + N ⌶ni səbəi korku ‘all these people’ ⌶ni gʰonej bədəṛa ‘these heavy clouds’ (8) Num + adj. + N turəi accʰa simku ‘six good cocks’ bari accʰa ḍoba kiñj ‘two good bullocks’ (9) N + pp + N aṭa - saṭon - ju ‘fruits along with food’ kapara – lien - biñj ‘snake over the head’ niũḍI – kʰija - niliku ḍa ‘sweet like honey’ (10) Num. + adj. + N + N upʰun - kenḍe - siṭa - capʰniku ‘four black dog’s children’ apʰəi - acʰa - gaw - korku ‘three good villagers’ Above noun phrases are sub-ordinate endocentric constructions. Some co-ordinate constructions are given below- (a) With the additive conjunctive co-ordinate marker /ḍo/ ‘and’ por⌶ya ḍo ṭarai ‘boy and girl’ ḍʰoṭa ḍo ḍukri ‘husband and wife’ (b) With the conjunctive alternative marker /ya/ ‘or’, which is a borrowed one from Indo-Aryan languages. ⌶ñ ya ḍ⌶j ‘I or he/she’ n⌶ũḍi ya kaṭij ‘sweet or bitter’ Appositive Attributive Noun Phrases Appositive attributive noun phrases are obtained by placing NPs is a sequence, without any marker, such as (i) NPs are placed in a sequence and the second NP qualifies the first NP. ekla acʰa koro ‘alone good person’ ale səbəi ‘we all’ (ii) Dem. + Dem. + N ḍ⌶ŋan ḍ⌶ gaw-korku there those villagers ‘There those villagers’
VERB PHRASE
Verb phrase is that part of the predicate in a sentence which contains a verb and an optional auxiliary/auxiliaries. In Korku verbal stem inflected can occur with and without the following
There are two kinds of verb phrases: simple and complex verb phrase.
Simple verb phrases
These phrases contain one single verbal stem may or may not be followed by auxiliaries. (a) Copula verbs- hoy, be, ṭakha (in present tense) and ḍan (in past tense) are the copula verb stems seen in Korku. ⌶nic ape bokojəi hoy ‘This is your younger sister’ əm je por⌶ya hoy ‘whose son are you’ ḍ⌶j pala pətla be ‘That leaf is thin’ ⌶ni ura ḍ⌶ja be ‘This is his house’ m⌶ya siṭa ḍan ‘One dog was’ (b) Inflected verb forms without the auxiliaries are occurring as verb phrase in the sentences. C. Contingent form in subjunctive mood ⌶ñ ṭoṛa ṭem ṭaen ṭʰaṛu I more time some stay ‘I may stay for some time more’ (i) Ordinary imperative ⌶ŋgan heje here come ‘Come here’ dʰ⌶raṭen jome slowly eat ‘Eat slowly (ii) Polite imperative /-ni-/ is the marker of polite imperative mood. Some times the affixation of /-ni-/ with the verb stem causes the addition of extra vowel, such as : Simple imperative Polite Imperative subae subaini Other examples are: heje hejeni sene seneni (iii) Future ⌶ñ hejeba I come-fut-1p(sg) ‘I will come’ ḍ⌶ku hejeba they come-fut-3p(pl) ‘They will come’ əm iṭʰuiba you learn-fut-2p(sg) ‘You will learn’ (iv) Perfective indicating simple past tense ḍ⌶j ol-en he go-past-3p(sg) ‘He went’ ⌶ñ aru-en I construct-past-1p(sg) ‘I constructed’ (v) Imperfective yədi ⌶ñ ol-ḍan if I write-fut-imp. ‘If I would have written’ yədi ⌶ñ-ken manḍi-ken-ḍan ⌶ñ s⌶s⌶riñj-ḍan if me ask-past I sing-fut-imp. ‘If they had asked I would have sung’ Present perfect ⌶ñ hej-ken ‘I have come’ Past perfect əm jəlḍoka hehen-ḍan you earlier come-past.per-2p (sg) ‘You had come earlier’ ḍ⌶j olen-ḍan she go-past.per-3p (sg) ‘She had gone’ Present progressive ⌶ñ s⌶s⌶riñj-lakken I sing-present.prog-1p. (sg) ‘I am singing’ siṭa bʰubʰu-lakken dog bark-present.prog-3p. (sg) ‘The dog is barking’ Past progressive ḍ⌶j sene-lakken-ḍan he go-pt.prog-3p. (sg) ‘He was going’ əm heje-lakken-ḍan you come-pt.prog-2p.(sg) ‘You were coming’
Complex phrases
ADJECTIVE PHRASE
Adjective phrases are used as modifiers of the nouns. Two or more adjectives can form the adjective phrases.
Numeral + Quantitative Adj.
This type of words are used for measurement, such as:
m⌶ya ḍeŋo ‘equal to one finger’
upʰun boṭo ‘equal to four times a finger’
m⌶ya mukʰa ‘equal to one spreaded hand’
as in:
⌶ni kagəda ləmbai upʰun boṭo be
‘The length of this paper is equal to four fingers’
Quantitative + Qualitative Adj.
kʰub acʰa ‘very good’
As in:
⌶ni ura kʰub acʰa hoi
this house very good aux ‘This house is very good’
Adjective Phrases with nominal or infinitive modifiers:
In such phrases, the adjective heads are in agreement with the nouns.
with /–kʰ⌶ja/ and /-layeko/ adjectives
j⌶jom layeko ‘worth eating’
nunu layeko ‘worth drinking’
⌶ni ju j⌶jom layeko ‘This fruit is worth eating’
pəṛao gen sərəl ‘Easy in reading’
⌶ni k⌶tab pəṛao gen sərəl be ‘This book is easy in reading’
ḍaḍa-en muskil ‘Difficult in doing’
⌶ni kamo ḍaḍa-en muskil be ‘This work is difficult in doing’
ADVERB PHRASE:
An adverb phrase is a sequence of words, which occur in place of an adverb. There are various types of adverb phrases, which are given below:-
Adverb phrase of Location:- /-n/ or /-en/ is the suffix for the location. dusra gawen ‘in other village’ ḍ⌶k⌶ñj meran ‘near them’ minu konen ‘at the cat’ oṭen subaẽ ‘Sit on the floor’ uran ‘to house’ Adverb phrase of temporal:- din-ka bʰər ‘all the day’ ḍeṭo-gen ‘at that time’ pehla-ka khija ‘as before’ jaha-kaṭa ‘as before’
Adverb phrase of manner:-
Adverbial marker ‘ṭen’ can be used with verb (in past tense or direct verb) as similar as the use of adverbial form ‘badon’.
giṭijken-a-ṭen/giṭij-a-badon ‘after sleeping’ jojom-a-ṭen ‘from eating’ biḍjen-a-ṭen ‘after getting up’ ṭol-ṭen ‘after binding’ koher-koher-ṭen ‘very loudly’ siΝgrupṭen ‘by evening’ jojom gʰənṭ⌶n ‘about food’ Adverbs are often reduplicated for obtaining a sense of continuity and intensity of an event/action/time. din-din ‘day after day’ raṭo-raṭ ‘in the night itself ’ jhəṭo-jhəṭo ‘very quickly’ usaru-usaru ‘gradually’ Adverb phrase of purposive:- may gʰənv⌶n ‘for mother’ kakƱ gogocʰ ‘for fishing’
Minor Sentences:-
Some sentences without the predicate, are known as minor sentences. They can occur by themselves or with other sentences. In Korku minor sentences are used for three functions as follow:-
(i) For addressing- /e/ is used for vocative form in Korku, such as e may ḍo ‘O mother’ e morangi ḍo ‘O peacock’ e ḍo radʰo konjei ‘O radha daughter’ This vocative form can come with the other sentences also. e por⌶ya, ja pan supari jome ‘O son, eat betel betel nut ’ e ṭara⌶ku, ellen heje ḍo girls here come ‘O girls, come here’ e por⌶yaku, ellen heje ja O boys here come ‘O boys, come here’ (ii) For expressing the greetings- They use greeting terms like Hindus, such as ram ram ji, jai ram ji (iii) For the answer to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type questions- They use the expressions for ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without the following full sentences, such as həõ ‘yes’ ha ‘yes’ baΝgon ‘no’ heiba ‘no’
LEXICON
NATURE
Khandwa Betul Maharashtra Glossing
koyo koyo koyo air
loṛ loṛ brook (small stream)
bədəṛa bədəra bədəra cloud
raram rara(:)m cold
kʰujum kʰuyum darkness
gomejoṛ pəṭa aŋgup dawn
õso Oso dew
siŋgrup siŋgrup dusk
oṭe oṭe earth
siŋgəl siŋgəl siəgel fire
aḍi aḍi aḍi flood
benḍi ḍoŋgər ḍoŋgər forest
ubra: gʰamo ubra: heat
ubra: lolor heat due to fire
ubra: din-ga lolor heat due to sun
ṭʰenḍej gomej ṭʰenḍej moon
kasa cikʰal kasa mud
uni uni uni new
bərsaḍo bərsaḍo bərsaḍo rain
jəra jəra ḍa sipir sipir drizzling
ṭamkulonda bʰəgwan ga dʰənus tamukʰulonḍeñ rainbow
gaṛa gaṛa gaṛa river
reṭo reṭo riti sand
səmudər səmuduro derwa sea
seĩ saĩ shade
gomej din gomej sun
dunia dunia universe
ḍa ḍa ḍa water
kʰara ḍa kʰara ḍa kʰara ḍa salt water
sim⌶l ḍa sim⌶l ḍa sim⌶l ḍa sweet water
nunu ḍa nunu ḍa nunu ḍa drinking water
bəla: muga uləṛḍa waterfall
cakʰan cakʰan wood
prətʰwi prətʰwi world
ipʰ⌶l ipʰ⌶l ipʰ⌶l star
ḍʰunḍi ḍʰundi cyclone
cikna kasa cikna kasa clay
lugun tara comet
pulum kasa cuna go:ṭacuna limestone
mənḍəl mars
b⌶star Jupiter
buṛi cikʰal marsh
məhasagər ocean
gəḍḍa ravine
capʰni gomej saturn
səmudro gʰera bʰitra seashore
ḍʰega ḍʰega go:ṭa stone
bebəc storm
səmudro ḍa səmudro ḍa water in the sea
bʰətəḍa hoḍa ḍa bʰu:tṛaa whirlwind
FAUNA
c⌶ṭi caṭi c⌶ṭi ant
kenḍe c⌶ṭi kenḍe caṭi kenḍe c⌶ṭi black ant
raṭa c⌶ṭi raṭa c⌶ṭi siŋgelkalla red ant
ḍoŋga ulṭa pə͂kʰor bat
bʰalu reda bear
kella calf
kelli calf (female)
uṭo/utəḍa camel
gəi gai gai cow
m⌶nu m⌶nu m⌶nu cat
boka boka boka male cat
əj⌶gər na:ŋgobiŋj cobra
kʰəpri cockroach
hanḍu sa:nḍya bull
ḍoba ḍoba bullock
bədək crane
məŋgər aj⌶gar crocodile
kawṛa kawṛa crow
gʰotəri gʰoṭaṛi deer
bədək bədəkʰ duck
siṭa siṭa siṭa dog
gədəṛi giḍəṛi female donkey
gədəṛa male donkey
billa: bʰila eagle
jilŋgoṭ jilgoṭ earthworm
aṭkom aṭkom aṭkom egg
heṭi: haṭṭ⌶ elephant
kəpʰa baṭe kapʰa feather
puci puci field mouse
kakƱ kakƱ kakƱ fish
ḍeḍa: ḍeḍa ḍeḍa frog
məna bʰaḍo big frog
sim cock
kəŋgi kaŋgwa comb
siḍi bokra/siḍi goat
siḍi she-goat
bəkra he-goat
pa:ṭo goat’s kid
ḍumurku ḍumurku ṭerom honey-bee
gʰuṛgi gʰuṛgi gʰuṛgi horse
sara: kʰeḍya hyena
ruku insect
bibə:ṭ/sosokula leopard
kəpisiṭa kekʰemereṛ lizard
bəndri: bəndri: monkey
horia: horia: miṭʰu parrot
mara mərra mara peacock
sukṛ⌶ sukṛ⌶ sukṛ⌶ pig
kua:li kubali rabbit
kətṛe kətṛe skin
biñj biñj biñj snake
tur squirrel
keṭʰom kaṭʰom tortoise
ḍogḍe shell of tortoise
kolya wolf
jəgliməlajə spider
cuṛ/cuṭ tail
kakəkʰom crab
goda nest
kula kula kula tiger
kula kula kula tigress
kəplij kəpʰlij butterfly
səniga ḍeḍa: tadpole
kiḍiñj kiḍiñj scorpio
ruku flies
neula newəl mongoose
məcʰər cikʰni mosquito
gugu owl
menḍʰaku menḍ⌶ bəkri sheep
jehər poison
CLOTHING, ORNAMENT AND CARE
teḍʰia/bəkṛia jʰumka teṛya armlet
pehla kon back of the head
cuṛi cuṛi bangle
bənḍ⌶ bʰitərga əŋa banyan
pəṭṭa belt
kəmbəl blanket
pʰolka polka polka/curgi blouse
kəṛa kəṛa bracelet
guḍom gudam button
ṭopi ṭop ṭupi cap
səkṛ⌶ sakṛi chain
corgi colka choli
koṭo aŋa coat
kalər collar
pʰinij/kəŋa kəŋa comb
puni kapusu cotton
hira diamond
meksi: gown
dəsti handkerchief
peres iron
cəmḍe leather
luŋgi lungi
cipi cipi hair pin
jʰumka ear-ring
loŋgo besar nose-ring
səkṛi togli necklace
kãco kaco mirror
təgli jebər togli ornament
cəḍi pant
pesi kisa pocket
munḍi munḍi munḍi ring
per pəṭṭi payal
lija/lubu lija lija sari
guṭʰumuṭʰu scarf
kʰauṛe kʰauṛe kʰawṛe shoe
layeŋga gʰəgʰra skirt
sabun sabu sa:bun soap
sal shawl
joḍa joṛa sorey toe-ring
pəgṛ⌶ pəgṛ⌶ pəgṛ⌶ turban
sitri cʰata umbrella
u:n wool
dʰuti lija lija dhoti
kəpṛa lija lija cloth
colga pajama
ciṭʰipəḍa hair partition
so:na so:na so:na gold
HOUSE, PART OF HOUSE
kutṛi aŋgul ura bathroom
pərkom parkom kʰaṭiya bed
giṭija kone giṭija kʰoli bedroom
cədər bedsheet
sunḍuku peṭṭi sunḍuko box
junu junu junu broom
bəlṭi bucket
ṭer palm leaf broom
toļo sətərənj carpet
koṭʰ koṭʰa koṭʰa cowshed
kiməṛ kibaṛo kiwa:ṛ door
bərkəs doorframe
kora ṭehri entrance
oṭe oṭe floor of house
niu niu foundation
pʰəṭko gate
ura ura ura house
kunji kunji kunji key
bəbəndo latch
tala/kulupo talaga kulup lock
ipṭʰiñj cula oven
usta pillow
pədʰṛi cʰəto roof
iju bayranseno kʰoli toilet
kʰiṛki kʰiṛki window
pə͂kʰa pə͂kʰa fan
kənḍil lanteen
cikʰni dani mosquito net
tʰela tʰela tʰela bag
BODY PARTS
jinḍa jibəs alive
joṛo joṛo ankle
dəm bimari rua asthma
pəṭi ṭoleləken pəṭi ṭoleləken bandage
daḍʰi dəḍi daḍʰi beard
andʰḍa əndʰḍa andʰḍa blind
haḍge haḍe bone
kapər kʰopṛa gu:ro brain
dəmsəsa dəmsəsa breath
ḍopər buttock
kansər irju cancer
joka joka cheek
sati sati saṭi chest
maiku sənimãy sa:nima:ysa:ni chicken pox
kʰuwa kʰu-kʰu cough
gəi sena sena cow excrement
goyen goju-goju death
səkər rogo diabetes
rogoen bimari diseases
kʰuini kʰonni kʰu:ni: elbow
mukki/bukki fist
a:ḍsi arsa lazy
lelbe lip
pʰepʰa lung
məleria rua malaria
dəm guts
pilia: jaundice
dila rogo heart disease
senḍa boṭo silij deŋo little finger
ulṭa ṭi ulṭa ṭi left arm
dəbai dəba medicine
tala boṭo bico ḍeŋgo ṭala boṭo middle finger
ləcjeb pregnant
atma soul
ləkʰwa paralysis
rogo koro patient
gətəl penis
mũ mũ mũ nose
bulu bulu thigh
oṭa oṭʰa chin
meṭ meṭ me:ṭ eye
kenḍe gara gara eye ball
bui eye brow
menḍa bui eye lid
muwar muwar muwa:r face
kasu kasu kasu ache
ruwa ruwa fever
boṭo ḍeŋgo boṭo finger
jilu jilu jilu flesh
naga naŋgṭe foot
tikri ṭikḍi ṭʰikri fore head
hup cuṭṭi hu:p hair
ṭi ṭi ṭi hand
kapər kəpar kapar head
cecepe heel
ḍoko ḍoko hiccup
bulu hip
kukumlake human excrement
konṭe boṭo ḍogoga joḍ index finger
ati guduḍo intestine
jəbṛia ṭiṛiñj ja:bṛi jaw
kelenja kidney
ṭoŋgṛe ṭopre knee
naŋga naŋga naŋga leg
sammanaŋga foreleg
ḍiḍuma tiḍin milk tooth
musa moustache
cabu/koṭo cabu ca:bu mouth
neko nekʰo nakko nail
bʰoŋga laŋga bʰoŋga/bʰi:k-asi naked
popa mupopa nostril
kasu kasu pain
titala ṭiṭala palm
bʰauṛi kʰopḍi kʰanḍa shoulder
ḍʰaca ja:nahaḍe skeleton
ləc laj laj stomach/belly
ubra: pəsina ubra sweat
meḍḍa meḍa ḍa meḍḍa tear
ṭaṭam thirst
goŋgren throat
koḍu: boṭo ḍoṭa ḍeŋgo kʰaṛuboṭo thumb
boṭo toe
la:n laŋ laŋ tongue
ilajo treatment
ukʰnum kunum urine
mayaŋ mayaŋ mayaŋ waist
kõbor body
hub skin hair
ciṭʰi hair partition
lutur lutur ear
bʰawəḍI bʰawəḍi back
calkom bʰuja arm
pəcan pəcna blood
neso: nerve
kətʰla armpit
uli spit
kʰurcu
pətəni
ṭiṛiñj ṭiṛiñj ṭiṛiñj teeth
dupəru
ṭijoṛ ṭijoṛ wrist
ṭawanaŋga hindleg
ṭoṭʰor totḍa neck
dil surujo heart
FOOD, DRINK, COOKING AND UTENSIL
ho:p ash
kere kela keṛe banana
kere pala banana leaf
kere siñj keṛesiñj banana tree
sukṛa sokṛa sukṛa bread
nari: kəleba ña:ri breakfast
luni loni ṭupo butter
pala gobi sakom gobi goṭki/gobi cabbage
gajər ga:jri carrot
sim cilay chicken
kolya kolya coal
kʰopṛe siñj kʰopṛe siñj coconut tree
ḍʰya dʰeyã da~ya~ curd
hara ara uṭʰu curry
siŋgruba: aṭa dinner
tʰaḍa bogna dish
aṭkom aṭkom egg
kocre kocara egg’s cover
peḍa/peuḍi yolk (egg’s part)
jebor fat
kiḍi fish curry
mekei koləm a:ṭa flour
aṭa aṭa/jujom a:ṭa food
rəs ḍã fruit juice
cakʰan fuel
gʰi gʰib ghee
niliku ḍa ḍã honey
ḍəba jar
cimni sunum kasa sunum kerosene
kone kitchen
suri:/cəku cəkku suri knife
siḍu siḍu siḍu liquor
aṭa jom lunch
kəḍi kaḍiḍabbi match stick
ḍiḍom ḍiḍom ḍiḍom milk
jilu jilu jilu mutton
sunum sunum sunum oil
kʰopṛe sunum coconut oil
telmia: sunum mustard oil
seŋga sunum groundnut oil
ambe ambe ambe mango
tʰaḍa koṭṭo plate
bʰondlo pakoda
pan pan
papaṛ papad
acar acaro ra:yta pickle
cauli cauli cauli/kacaka rice/raw rice
baba jom jom cooked rice
salaḍ salad
bulum bulum bulum salt
kəṭərni kəṭərni scissor
nunuwa smoke
cəṭʰua: cəmes spoon
hepṭim stove
səkər sakkar sugar
sərbət squash
ḍəba tiffin
biṛi tamaku tobacco
uṭʰu cooked vegetables
ḍa ḍa ḍa water
tel mĩj mustard
baba baba baba paddy
limbu nimbu limbu lemon
səkom sakum sakum leave
kãde kãdo ka:nde onion
jo jo jo/bili fruit
bijo bijo bijo seed
eŋgan bʰəṭṭa eŋga:n brinjal
bʰenḍi ladies finger
mũ mu mahua
muḍa mu:ṛa radish
siŋgli/pʰəli ground nut
jambo guava
ənajo ənaj
cica cica cica tamarind
lusun lusun lusun garlic
jambu jamu jambu gooseberry
jirbeŋgan ḍorsi jʰirmaṛi tomato
cəna cana
musur masur dal
beṭna betana peas
mekəjə makay corn
tel mĩj mustard
mirca mirc chilly
narel/kʰopṛe kʰopṛa kʰopṛe coconut
siñj siñj siñj tree
saməl səmar coriander
takʰer cucumber
gulhəṛ hibiscus
kəṭəl jackfruit
sutri jute
pala sakom sakum leaf
kəməla pʰul lotus
nimbo neem
si:nḍo si:nḍo sinḍijo palm
pepre pipri pipal
kʰuḍu kũbṛa kʰuḍu pumpkin
dʰənḍei/caṭa sugarcane
səkər kenḍo sweet potato
səsəb turmeric
utʰ vegetable
gəũ gũ gahũ wheat
mũgo ho:ra: green gram
kultʰa horse gram
biskuṭ biscuit
baṭəl bottle
kəṭori bowl
ca:e coffee
kopo cup
kʰəjur kʰarikko date fruit
ədrək ginger
kərela bitter gourd
əŋgur grape
cara grass
cəmeli jasmine
kumudini pʰul lily
kenḍe mirca kenḍe mirc pepper
ənanas pineapple
alu alu potato
gulabo pʰul rose
surujo pʰul sunflower
tərbʰuj kʰərbʰuj watermelon
siŋgel siŋgel fire
VERBS
saṭo accompany
nisanenḍa aim at
babay abandon
ələg ṭʰaṛ abstain
ḍoso enḍa accuse
məmnao admit (confess to be true)
ṭalan mu admit (allow to enter)
godin səsa adopt
mimlao add/dissolve
rəjien agree
gəmət amuse
utərmanḍie answer
intejam ḍaḍa arrange
komra komra komra ask
arka apply
bʰa:ṭo(n) appear
adiren arrive
aṛi blow (mind)
aŋguc aŋgul aŋgluj bathe
mumḍa muda sari beat
asi asi beg
suru lakken suseru begin
hombage koṛe/dʰi bend
kakʰap kʰap bite
dua do bless
ḍeḍec ḍeḍej ṭya break
dəm səsa sa:so breathe
səge səsa sege/le bring
haru: aru build
jujul julu burn (of charcoal)
jələṭiuba burn (sensation)
jujul burn (brick)
səsa lakken kʰərido buy
haruen itʰiñe/ḍaw become
jita be alive
a:ram blame
tʰa:ḍ tʰa:ḍ tʰa:ḍ be/exist
hisab ḍəḍalakken calculate
kakuṭu kewej carry (baby)
bʰauḍin kakuṭu carry (on back or shoulder)
u:ṭʰa uṭʰa/kʰul carry (in hand)
uṭʰa lakken catch
tiwar məmnao pawnca:r celebrate
sərətlakken challenge
bəbədəlao badla change
cillər change (money)
dʰoka jile cheat
cəcpʰaṭ capʰaṭ chew (food)
pan cəcpʰaṭ chew (betel)
sapʰo u:ruṭ/cʰokʰay clean
ṭiruru clap
bebenḍo keṭki close
gogəla gola(w)/raŋo collect
hukumju command
atməhətya commit suicide
tulna ḍaḍa compare
sikaet ḍaḍa gʰis-gʰis complain
pepyeda consume
suruki continue
kʰu kʰu cough
gigna lekʰa umna/lekʰa:y count
ugur ugur cover
jam jam ja:m/luṛi cry
cecerec bʰama geḍe/ma(veg.) cut (tree)
i:r cut (paddy)
aṭa onḍar biliw hondar cook
kəŋgi kəkrao koṭ comb
siñlen peṛe peḍej/cuḍe climb
heje heje heje come
undar compose
sendra sendraw keḍa drive
na:co susun dance(male only)
gaduli dance (female)
pʰesla ḍaḍa decide
sosoba gaṭʰi decorate
kakəmo kam decrease
səsəmjao describe
bərbaḍo destroy
lala popage dig
həl ḍaki discuss
lakken ḍaḍa do
səpna ḍoḍo dream
nunu nunu nu drink
lokʰəṛ dry
bobəco drop
bən pəpərsən dislike
sək be doubt
ḍama kakamai: earn
jojom jojom jom eat
miṭau kidu erase
jəjaco examine
gyan ju encourage
məja lakken enjoy
umid ḍoḍo tara expect
talan mu pa:rmu/ṭalanheje enter
gʰapṭa embrace
itan boco soṭ/laṛaluṛu fall (down)
apʰir apʰir/uṛaṭiñe fly
ṭaulalagəba follow
murjʰao faint
syan sage finish
gʰəgəṛI gʰiḍi fold (cloth)
ṭi gogəla fold (arm)
ṭʰəṭʰənḍa freeze
higra higra karaṭ fear
cəcəra a:nu feed
məhsus ḍaḍa feel
la:j feel shy
səge fetch
gʰəgʰəṭa gʰaṭa(w) find
ririnjen riñj/tʰa:y forget
aprəm lakken mapa fight
bʰarti fill
mapʰ kec forgive
kʰijo kʰijo/ṭetʰer get angry
cəŋgəi tʰana:y get well
gogla gola(w)/jama gather
gəla səsapʰo gargle
biḍe get (up)
ju juke i/je/jyu give
kʰakʰəṭ kʰaḍ grow
koragʰagal guide
sene seno ole/sene go
asuṭ asuṛ a:kʰe hang
bibiḍ harvest
ṭa:kʰa ṭa:kʰa have
jwa: have food
ayom ajom hear
gəgərom heat
mədəd ḍaḍa help
yaḍu lakken ḍoko hiccup
hu:kʰu hide
uṭʰa uṭʰac/uṭʰay hold
nəpʰrət ḍaḍa hate
niyota ju invite
kʰakʰaṭ increase
uc uj u:(j) jump
cicəḍao joke
haḍei haḍey know
ḍoḍo ḍokʰe ṭokʰay keep
muməḍa geḍec kill
kʰəṭkʰəṭao knock
lənḍa lanḍoḍo lanḍa laugh
udʰar səsa lend
iṭan ḍoḍo laba:ṛ lie down
lien ṭuṭul ṭuṭul ṭule/tiwi lift up
ajom ajum ajom listen
ṭau ḍoḍo look back
iṭʰu malumñe learn
cəkkər sandraba love affair
bəye kec opoṭ leave
səmman sene move
oṭjen/cʰuṭaojen miss
undar haru aru make
mile ṭiu hoṛa meet
mimilau bella mix
jumu jumu jumu name
hona hona hona need
ha:ko offer
nenec kʰula/nije open
cuckao pay
yojəna haru plan
kʰyale huñju play
ruru səseṛi play (instrument)
reroŋgo paint
jehrila haru poison
arju ḍaḍa arjo pray
dədbao laḍe press
kʰikʰəṛi kola/kokla pull out
ḍeḍendo punish
yəkin didlao persuade
dəya ba pity
sien enḍa ro:po plant
ḍʰikliba ḍʰikli push
kosis ḍaḍa practice
bədai ḍaḍa gara:na praise
dʰoka ḍaḍi pretend
tya:r tya:r tya:r prepare/get ready
bəcən ju pepʰḍej/kabule promise
jʰəgḍa lakken apra:ŋ/kapaja quarrel
pəpʰəṛai pəṛabə pəṛaṭiñj read
baŋgon refuse
babae release
ataṛa aṭor/aṭre/re remove
nənəya repair
eṭa ṭen repeat
məmsao kʰoraṭ/kʰroṭ rub
ṭaṭam ṭam rinse
yaḍo hirdaheja remember
biṛe ṭeŋgen rise
saṛup liḍewo saṛup run
ṭʰaṛba ṭʰaḍo peḍa/ṭicca stay
ukʰar koyo shave
jukʰric jʰukʰriw jʰa:ṛjʰu:ṛ sweep
babae sacrifice
manḍieni maḍI menḍa say
gʰəṭaini search
ḍoḍo ḍoḍo kole: see
kikji kijiw kiji sell
kukur kukul kul send
ələg goec/juden pʰuṭo separate
holei gʰiliñe/holoñj shake
jəjmao pa:ḍi shift
nenem ṭuŋj shoot
kahane lakken gʰal(e) show
sisrĩj ba siriñj sing
iṭan-subay sit down
pʰelpʰelao pasar/bil spread
biṛeni ṭeŋen ṭeŋene stand
cucri cucuri steal
ḍaṭa ṭiũ stick
benḍo tatʰaṛ/rokaṭiñe stop
sək ḍaḍaba suspect
giṭij giṭij giṭij sleep
uyar lakken swing
hindṛi travel
manḍi manḍi manḍi talk
nanuru take care of
ilajo saja treat
nani əsiye na take
jom lakken tear
higra threaten
tetəṛəpa teṛpay/kule throw
gəgəṭʰi/ṭoṭəl ṭoṭol ṭol tie
dukʰ ju torture
uṭʰa uṭʰa guṛI touch
kosis ḍaḍa try
hindṛi pa:ṛi turn
ṭʰaṭəma tʰawa(y) taste
pəpʰəḍao teach
socaṭiũ salaye think
səsəmjao samjaṭiñe understand
ulauba ulaw vomit
kora ḍoḍo kora ḍoḍo wait
cəcəṭa warm
Ol Ol o:l write
uri: u:ri/ewere wear
səmalṭe warn
syan waste
ḍoḍo watch
olaen ṭupu wet
jiḍaen win
biya ḍaḍaba biyaw wed
puja ḍaḍaba arjo worship
kama:y kama:y kama:y work
PROFESSION
melo dust
siṭom siṭom thread
susu stitch
siḍu kikiji miṭʰec toddy-seller
sisa toddy pot
kʰilaru miṭʰec weaver
ḍoŋga boat
pulia: bridge
gaṛi ḍoba bullock cart
moṭər bus
sikəl cycle
nunuga ḍa drinking water
jʰapṛa engine
kora street
rel train
cəkri wheel
kəlakar artist
soŋo acting
sisiriñjinku singers
sisiriñj sisiriñj sisiriñj song
brus brus brush
roŋo raŋ colour
rəbər pətri eraser
pensil pencil
mata mae sadʰu astrologer
kalenḍər calendar
ṭre: tray
nai kokopo barber
pətri razor
həṭʰoḍa hammer
babu babuji clerk
karku karku karku fisherman
jali jʰagri net
sonar jeweler
dukan dukan shop
dukan miṭʰec iman minij shop-keeper
sikar miṭʰec hunter
jeher poison
dʰaḍki miṭʰec laborer
dʰaḍki gʰəṭaua wage
rojki gʰəṭaua daily wage
həpten ki gʰəṭaua weekly wage
jadu magic
jaduṭona miṭʰec jadu kʰoḍ magician
tamba pitra copper
sona sona so:na gold
ləu lokʰonḍo iron
cəndi candi ca:ndi silver
isṭil steel
suini ḍukri bʰuyəni sani midwife
ḍiḍo miṭʰec ḍiḍo miṭʰec milkman
kərjo ju miṭʰec sohkar money-lender
duna interest
nərəs nurse
sunum miṭʰec sunum minij oilman
pan kikijimiṭʰec pankikijiminij pan seller
acha sukinmini perfume
ciṭʰi ciṭʰi letter
tar tar telegram
ciṭʰi ḍəba: ciṭʰi ḍəba: post box
posṭapʰis posṭapʰis post office
cʰəcəpa print
jʰora rope
ḍora uc rope dance
ḍakṭər doctor
həspatal hospital
jujukʰuric miṭʰec jukʰri junu sweeper
melo kumu dust
ṭelər tailor
sui suji needle
siṭom siṭom siṭom thread
susu susu stitch
siḍu kikiji miṭʰec toddy-seller
sisa toddy pot
kʰilaru miṭʰec weaver
gogej miṭʰec black magic
həbai jahaj aeroplane
nau sesundəra miṭʰec boatman
kora kora street
ṭiar tyre
PERCEPTION
rəŋgo rəŋgo raŋg colour
nila lila ni:la green
peḍa pera orange
raṭa rata raṭa red
pulum pulum pulum white
kenḍe kenḍe kenḍe black
peḍa pera pi:wṛi yellow
gulabi gulabi rosy
uda dʰamna grey
jamuni purple
bʰura kattʰa brown
sona kʰija golden yellow
bʰəṭa reŋgo violet
rubun rəbaŋg rabaŋg coldness
əndra rato əndʰra dark
ubra lolor seḍa hot
mədda: ujala light
kəl kəl həlla kʰa:ṭṭe noise
kʰəṭa: kʰaʰa sour
kʰara kʰara kʰara salty
niũḍi simil simil sweet
ḍa ṭaṭom ṭaṭaŋg thirst
uṭʰa uṭʰa touch
kaṭij kaṭij bitter
EMOTION: TEMPERAMENTAL, MORAL & AESTHETIC
kʰijo jiker kʰijo anger
ari: ari: happiness
cəkkər love
yaḍoga səkti memory
ukʰu secret
lanḍa lanḍa smile
səco: truth
jam jam weeping
karən karən cause
dəm kəraṭen courage
kʰətərnak higraga danger
sək doubt
adət jiwa habit
nəpʰrət narajo hatred
jəria idea
bədnamo bədnamo insult
dimag əkəlwan intellect
icʰa: intention
jələn jələn jealousy
dəya dəyariñj ikindoy mercy
gʰəmənḍI əkḍuja pride
man səman ḍaḍa ijjət ḍaḍa respect
acha kamae jiwḍan wish
mugu-mugu sukiñj/bo:y smell/odour/fragrance
cəmətkar socən baco wonder
EDUCATION
takta takta black board
kʰəṛu chalk
ḍisnari dictionary
murkʰo murkʰo ignorant
peṭṭi slate
kitab pustak bukko book
kalej bəṛe skul college
sahi sahi sahi ink
kapi notebook
iskul ḍama scholarship
iskul iskul school
guruji guruji teacher
GOVERNMENT
rajdʰani rajdʰani capital
seher seher city
nəukiri gʰaṭae clerk
des deso country
lok təntrə dili ḍi democracy
jila jila district
jʰənḍa jʰənḍa flag
rajpal rajaga raja governor
sərkar sərkar government
raja raja king
rajyə kingdom
məntri məntri minister
apʰis apʰis office
babuji officer
raja ga ura raja ga ura palace
cauṛi pə͂cayətõ panchayat
jaṭo jaṭo tribe
cəprasi peon
rasṭrəpəti president
rajkumar rajkumar prince
rajkumari rajkumari princess
rani rani rani queen
gaw gaw gaw village
gaw korku gaw korku gaw korku villager
WAR
ṭaki drum
seŋgo miṭʰec friendship
bʰunḍike gun/pistol
senik army
tir arrow
jʰəgḍa battle
bəm gola bomb
səkḍi sakṛi chain
harao defeat
dusmən enemy
senaku soldier
təlbar sword
həbala kəkrao surrender
LAW
ṭa:n cʰoḍcʰuṭi apra divorce
ko:ṭ kəceri court
pʰasi hanging
tʰana pulum bəŋla tʰa:na jail
jəj pʰesla ḍake judge
bəkil okilo lawyer
labḍa koro liar
labḍa lie
goen bʰabʰa murder
gogejba murderer
pulis policeman
ijjət luṭao rape
pətər kar reporter
cori robbery
ḍia manṭe goen suicide
ṭexo tax
cor cucriminij thief
boṭ vote
RELIGION
raṭo rani
ḍama jikʰe bell
jənəmdin jənəmdin birthday
nərək hell
girija church
mimlaṭen mimlao death ceremony
setan bʰuṭo devil
tehar tibar festival
parḍi hunting
gomej gomec gomej god
debi debi may goddess
gʰeṭo gʰənṭo holy place
gaḍaḍa gaḍaḍa holy water
gonəm gonəm gonəm bride price
pəṛihar bʰəgtã paṛihar priest
bʰumka bʰumka bʰumka village priest
əgərbəti əgərobəti incense
mudda proposal
dədrom procession
jaṭo jaṭo religion
pərsad pərsado offering
SPORT & GAME
sərup kʰyal kʰyal athletics
genḍo genḍo ball
beṭ bat
pəṭṭa kʰyal card games
hũju game
kusti əlgər wrestling
jəbəṛi: kabadi
ENTERTAINMENT
pəbi: pabi flute
piŋgi: shahnai
sisiriñj sisiriñj song
sisiriñj miṭʰej sisiriñj miṭʰej singer
manḍwa manḍwa stage
naṭək naṭek drama
ṭimki ṭimki drum
ṭa:ṛa: drumstick
ADJECTIVE, ABSTRACT NOUN & ADVERB
səbeiku sa:ra all
ekla ekla ekla alone
surəi suṛəi bura bad
kʰub suṛəyən kʰub suṛəyən badly
dəmdar koro sakaso brave
kʰaṭ kʰaṭ big
hosiar cətər catra clever
hosiari cətərai cleverness
hosiariṭen cətəraiṭen cleverly
rubun rəbaŋg rabaŋg cold
goen siaen dead
tala onḍa kʰo:l deep
onḍaṭen deeply
həriken delight
jetra surayan/kumu dirty
lokʰəṛ lokʰoṛ dry
lokʰəṛen dryness
genjo enough
bərabər bərabər bʰaro:bʰar equal
bərabəriṭen bərabəriṭen equally
jʰuṭa false
jʰuṭanla falsehood
pərsidʰ gəjʰao fame
gəjʰaoken famous
beṛe ja:ṛa fat
beṛeka tajakoro fatty
gəlti cuka fault
gəltiṭen cukaen faulty
higra higra higra fear
higrao fearful
higraṭen higrat fearfully
məjak ṭʰəṭa fun
məjaki ṭʰəṭaṭen funny
uni uni uni new
murkʰo fool
murkʰoṭen lucca foolish
acʰa acʰa awel/sajaka good
acʰaka goodness
kʰaṭ great
kʰaṭ bəḍe greatness
kəṭʰin koṛakko/boboṛ hard
kəṭʰinaiṭen hardly
kʰəmbal kʰambal heavy
kʰəmbal ṭen heaviness
liŋj high
məja interest
məjaṭen interesting
ləmba long
ləmbaṭen length
beṛia beṛia beṛia mad
beṛiaṭen madness
milaoṭen mixed
mimilao mixture
mera mera near
sapʰ neat
sapʰaiṭen neatly
ṭyar ready
ṭyariṭen readiness
girbo girbo girbo poor
girboṭen puri poverty
kirsa talawa:n rich
kirsani richness
kirsanṭen richly
səhi jewna right
səhiṭen rightly
səṛao rot
səṛaen rotten
soṛaṭiŋgen rottenness
ələgo ələgo ələgo separately
akar shape
akarṭen shapely
bolobe bolo/dʰar sharp
boloṭen sharpness
lajoba shy
lajo shyness
lajoṭen shyly
dʰira bage slow
dʰiraṭen bageṭika slowly
cikkəṭ smooth
cikkṭa smoothness
cikkṭaṭen smoothly
kʰija similar
kʰijaba similarity
soba: smart
soba:ba smartness
soba:ṭen smartly
nərəm soft
nərəmba softness
nərəmṭen softly
pəkka bʰarwa solid
pəkkaba solidity
pəkkaṭen solidly
cuməṭʰ baka koro stingy
cumsi stinginess
cumsiṭen baka ṭen stingily
ṭikau stout
ṭikauṭen stoutness
takət strong
taketo strength
takeṭoṭen jo:r strongly
ḍʰepa onḍa thick
ḍʰepaba onḍa ṭen thickness
dubla ṭoŋṛe/do:ra thin
dublaṭen thinness
aḍi true
aḍiṭen truly
bənsoba suray ugly
bənsobabe ugliness
kemjor ṭoŋṛe weak
kemjori weakness
kemjoriṭen weakly
papi kʰayraṭi wicked
papiṭen wickedly
cəuḍa wide
cəuḍai width
cəudai7693;en widely
gələt wrong
gəlti:ṭen wrongly
ṭa:ṭa fresh
swa:y happy
gʰonej gʰonej gʰonoc/le:ka many/more
ADVERB
Direction & Measurement
cəuṛa breadth
tala bico center of konen corner of
iṭa ḍʰer iṭa ḍʰer downward
gomej oṛ gomojoṭkone east
lĩḍʰer edge
sa:n ani end
linki/lənka laŋgka far
kʰaḍ lənka far away
uca height
ulṭa ṭi left of
ləmba length
tala ṭala middle
gaŋgḍa north
bʰaran balla out
jaga place
ṭipka point
upʰun kona rectangle
apʰai kona triangle
siṛaṭi right
ḍʰola badaṛ south
gomej nəmru west
bəjən bʰa:robʰar weight
ba:ju ba:ju ba:ju/kone side
ṭala ṭala inside
tʰoṛa tʰoṛa tʰoṛa a little
tuwoŋg anywhere
suwa wish
samma (in) front
agitʰo at least
TIME
dusra pa:r tisra pʰa:r afternoon
baḍon afterwards
giṛi giṛi eṭha again
pehlaka already
rojka always
sala: age
suṭu suṭu/pe:laka before
so sal century
gʰeṛi clock
rojə ro:ju daily
ḍya ḍya/din/ḍin day
bistar Thursday
myan mya:ŋg day after tomorrow
makʰa din day before yesterday
a:ŋgpaṭṭapʰejar next day morning
na:ka now
pa:ṭṭa paṭṭa/gapʰaŋg tomorrow
kollin/koldin kola ḍin yesterday
siŋgrup siŋgrub siŋgrub evening
cola cola/kəbʰi jəbi jappo sometimes
punio puniyodin full moon day
adʰiraṭo bʰarkaṛi mid night
pʰejer/pəṭṭa pəṭʰa morning
raṭo raṭo raṭo night
aṭa beran noon
jʰəldo awkali kitʰay fast
dya:en mana late
sədaka often
gomej uḍʰlake sunrise
gomej namuren sunset
aŋup dawn
ṭem bera/gʰaḍi time
ṭẽj ṭeñj today
ṭeñara:ṭo ṭeñara:ṭo tonight
gʰiṛi samca moment
məhina mena month
həpta həpta hapta week
sal sal sa:l year
rasi rasi rasi zodiac
manaworso last year
sammasa:l next year
sakarwakar early
pʰejer pʰejerman early morning
unaṛa summer
bərsaḍo bərsaḍo rainy season
FUNCTIONAL WORDS
Postposition
liyen liñen above
ṭauṭe ṭawṭen/ba:don after
laṭen against
eṭa bʰi although
pura jaga around
kʰija lekʰan/oŋgo like
baŋgo/bane bane/baŋg not
ḍe maren co:jaki because
iṭa ṭa:w behind
ṭalan ṭala-ṭala between
saṭon by
iṭan iṭa down
gʰelya okoṭolaga during
eṭa bʰi even though
bae kej except
sawen ṭen for
ḍiaṭen from
ellen here
tala in
ḍitemon meanwhile
ulṭa opposite
eṭa jeka nira other
neito bʰala otherwise
aru: or
jeka ṭonecca someone
uḍe hu/ha/ho that
cola la:ka then
uŋgan/ḍiŋgan hoje/hojje there
ini səbei these
ene ini this
ṭen through
ḍi gʰalja kay thus
bə͂ki oṭṭañ unless
ḍeḍo ṭak oṭṭañ until
eḍi whether
soboḍo gon/gen/saŋwan with
bina bina bigar without
hanã yes
ṭika/ṭaka yet
eṭa dagre/ta:son if/and
gen at
pʰene but
mənau ki suppose/though
tara/dora on
Interrogative
copʰar copʰar copʰar how
cuj ṭuni ṭone which
je jeye who
jeke jeyega whom
jega ḍijga whose
coja coẽ ja co: why
cuc coe co:ch what
cola cola co:la when
ṭollen ṭuwan ṭoŋan where
NUMERAL
Ordinal
pehla mya pe:la first
dusra bariya second
tisra upʰiya tisra third
Cardinal
m⌶ya miya one
barya barya two
apʰəy apʰiya three
upʰun upʰuniya upʰun/upʰunia four
mənei moniya five
turəi turiya turuy/turuya six
yei ei seven
ilər uiṭʰwa eight
arai nine
gel gel gel/gelya ten
gelmya gelmya gel ḍo mya eleven
gelbarya gelbariya gel ḍo ba:rya twelve
isa bari gel twenty
tiso isa gel thirty
caliso bari isa fourty
saṭo apʰəi isa sixty
seḍi səḍḍi saddi hundred
bari seḍi ba:ri saddi two hundred
həzar gel səḍḍi gelsaddi thousand
gel həzar ten thousand
lakʰo lakh
m⌶ya bar myabera once
bari bar twice
apʰəi bar thrice
m⌶ya kuṭka quarter
m⌶ya paṛa mya paṛa half
apʰəi kuṭka/ ṭukṛa three fourth
m⌶ya gasa one eighth
deḍʰ one and a half
akʰir last
suṭu last but one
PRONOUNS
iñj iñj iñj I
iñke iñjkʰen me
iña iña iña my
iñjka iñjka iñce myself
aliñj aliñj aliñj we (dual)
ale ale ale we (plural)
a:m a:m a:m you (singular)
apiñj apiñj apiñj you (dual)
ape ape ape you (plural)
apo apo apo you (honor)
ḍij ḍij ḍic he/she (singular)
ḍi kiñj ḍi kiñj ḍi kiñj he/she (dual)
ḍiku ḍiku ḍiku they
ḍi ḍi ḍi it (demonstrative)
heja heja his
ini ini inic this (inanim.)
ḍi ḍi ḍi that (anim.)
inij inij inic this (anim.sg.)
ḍij ḍij ḍic that (anim.sg.)
in-kiñj in-kiñj in-kiñj this (anim.dual)
ḍi-kiñj ḍi-kiñj ḍi-kiñj that (anim.dual)
inku inku inku these (anim.)
inkiñj inkiñj inkiñj these two
ḍiku ḍiku ḍiku those (anim.)
ama ama ama your (sg)
aliña aliña aliña our (dual)
ḍija ḍija ḍija his/her
KINSHIP TERMS
a:i ma:mi ma:mi mother’s brother’s wife (younger)
aba may aba may ayomba/anṭebaṭe parents
aba bəṛe aba sa:na grand father
aba sən ba great grand father
ai may ai step mother
aji husband’s sister
aji saŋgu bawan-je-ṭe sister-in-law (other)
bʰa:gya male servant
bʰa:nja sister’s son
bʰa:nja/bʰa:nja-ṭe sister’s/brother’s son(s./o.)
bʰa:nji sister’s daughter
bʰayni female servant
bəi kʰaḍ bai elder sister
babən wife’s sister (younger)
bai maternal aunt’s daughter (elder)
bai boko-jai wife’s brother’s wife
bao bao wife’s brother (younger)
bawan/bawan-ṭe wife’s younger brother(s./o.)
bawan-je wife’s younger sister(self)
biyo biyao bya:w marriage
boko jai maternal aunt’s daughter (younger)
boko maternal aunt’s son (younger)
boko younger brother’s sibiling(self)
bokojəi bokojəi step sister
bokojai sani bai younger sister
bokojai bokojəi sister
boko-je younger sister
buḍʰa sana koro sa:na old man
buḍʰi sani koro sa:ni old woman
ḍʰoṭa ḍʰoṭa male
ḍʰoṭa ḍʰoṭa sa:naṭe husband
ḍai maternal aunt’s son (elder)
ḍai ḍai brother
ḍai/aba aba aba father
ḍukri jəpai wife
ek-la alone/one (male)
ek-li alone/one (female)
ibay səmdʰi imay kora daughter-in-law’s father
ilur ilur husband’s younger brother
japai japai woman
japay jəpay female
jaṭa husband’s younger brother’s wife
jaṭa jaṭami husband’s elder brother’s wife
jijikənkər jijikənkər wife’s sister (elder)
joṛkya joṛkya twins
jwan juban youth
kʰəṛba kʰəṛaba ga:gṭa father’s elder brother
kʰərən a:i mother’s brother’s wife (elder)
kətəṛya capʰni sani/kon/capʰni child
kʰu ḍai kʰeṛ ḍai ḍay elder brother
ka:ki father’s younger brother’s wife
kaka ka:ka father’s younger brother
kaka kaka kaka father’s brother
kimin kimin daughter-in-law
kimin kimin younger brother’s wife
komon father’s brother’s son
komon konom ga:gṭa nephew
komon konom ga:gṭaṭe nice
komon-je father’s brother’s daughter
kon kon son
konjəi konjəi daughter
korku korku korku people
koro koro man
kosreṭ/kosreṭ-ṭe elder brother’s son(self/other)
kosreṭ-je elder brother’s daughter
kuãra kuãra saṛaporya bachelor
kulər kular kura:r grand son
kulər kularin great grand daughter
kulər kular-je kura:r-je grand-daughter
kunjei konjay daughter
kunjkər kunjkər father-in-law
ma:ma/ma:maṭe mother’s brother(self/other)
may anṭe mother
may sən may great grand mother
may sən may sa:nimay grand mother
naura naura nawra bridegroom
niuri kunjkəkər niuri kunjkəkər husband’s elder brother
niwri bride
pəribar kuṭumb family
po:rya po:rya po:rya boy
poriya sotela kon sawṭikonṭe step son
pupu pupu ga:gta-ṭe father’s sister
ra:nḍo ra:nḍo ra:nḍo widow
ra:nḍwa ra:nḍwa ra:nḍwa widower
səbḍo saṛo friend
sədgi saṛ-ḍai saṛgi wife’s sister’s husband
səmdʰi imay ḍo daughter-in-law’s mother
səni ḍai səni ḍai younger brother
ṭya ṭya wife’s brother (elder)
ṭyã ṭeyã ṭya brother-in-law
taṛəi ṭaṛəi kon-je/konjay/ṭare girl
taṛai konjai sawṭikonje step daughter
u:/ou u:/ayom u: brother’s wife
FARMING AND AGRICULTUTE
kʰiṭi kamae kʰiṭi kʰeṭika:m agriculture
a:kʰe a:kʰe a:kʰe axe
laŋgi canal
belka bʰai kirsan kʰeṭika:m-iṭʰa:c farmer
kʰeṭin farming
pʰul baṛi pʰulga baṛi garden
rəkʰwala garderner
koṭʰi koṭʰi granary
kasa koṭʰi earthen granary
ola ṭupu wet
nənnəgar aṭo nəŋga:r plough
nəŋgər lakken ploughing
jəndra jodra hybrid
bijo bijo bi:jo seed
kasa kasõ soil
kenḍe kasa clay soil
raṭa kasa sandy soil
ṭekṭər ṭekṭər tractor
Copyright CIIL-India Mysore